The Abnormal Life of a Skywalker
by Deja Know I Been Lookin For Vu
Summary: Callista left him, his Academy was attacked, and he and Mara aren't on good turns. When Luke, who decides things can't get much worse, is told to go to Dagobah, he finds that many things are not what they seem... Written when I was 15. L/M. L/V.
1. Chapter One

**Title:** **The Abnormal Life of a Skywalker  
Author: Deja Vu  
Summary: Callista left him, his Academy was attacked, and he and Mara aren't on the best of turns. When Luke, who decides that things can't get much worse, is told to go to Dagobah, he finds that many things are not what they seem...  
—This was the first fanfic I ever wrote, and I have revamped it (I did not change the plot or the characters (some of which are not very in character, and I apologize—I did, however, delete some dialogue to make them a little more in character), I just tidied a few things up). This fic warps some of the stuff that happened in the movies, and I have compressed the books and movies together A LOT so that Luke is about twenty-three years old.  
Rating: Mild language, mild torture.  
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, but this story is mine.  
Author's Thanks:** **Many thanks to my friend Sarah, without whom this story would not have been made.  
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* * *

**Quickly, the barren desert sped by. 

The lone shape floated swiftly forward atop the ground. The noise the swoop caused was tremendous, adding to the thrill felt by its rider.

Beggar's Canyon was a very dangerous place for rookies to pilot in, and the Eye of the Needle was coming up fast...Would the swoop be able to "thread it"?

It made it—but just barely. A rock brushed the pilot's sleeve, tearing it slightly, but thirteen-year old Luke Skywalker grinned like a successful space pirate nonetheless. He watched the canyons fly by, reveling in the speed and glory of it all.

It wasn't his swoop, unfortunately. He had borrowed it from his friend Windy, though the boy had taken quite a bit of convincing to be assured that Luke wouldn't wreck it.

_Of course,_ Luke thought, amused, _just watch me crash and burn... _

Luke quickly brushed that thought away. It wouldn't help to think negative when he was already pushing for the positive.

Luke took a turn too sharply, gasping at the close call.

Adrenaline was rushing through his system, and he felt like he could conquer the galaxy. "Wahoo!" he yelled.

Dust flew up all around the swoop, enveloping it like a cloak.

_If Windy knew how fast this thing was going, he'd kill me! _

Luke smiled at that thought, imagining the expression on his friend's face. He was so caught up in his musings that he almost didn't notice the canyon wall coming right up at him. Luke swerved at the last instant, inwardly cursing his own foolishness.

Up ahead, in a small enclosure, Luke could just barely make out a small, lithe form. Frowning, he slowed the vehicle down to a stop. He squinted for a moment before getting out to see what, or who, it was.

The shape, he saw upon further inspection, was curled up into a ball in the corner and seemed to be...shivering.

He ducked under what passed for a ceiling and wandered over to where the...creature was. After cautiously observing the form, he asked, "Who are you?"

The small robed figure looked up, the robe's hood falling back slightly.

It was a girl! Why was she out here all alone in the desert?

"Get away from me!" she demanded, quite forcefully for someone in her situation. "If you don't, you'll be sorry!"

Luke laughed, amused by her warning. "I'm not gonna hurt you." She didn't look convinced. "I promise, I don't bite." She didn't seem comforted by that either. "What's your name, and what are you doing in here?"

"I can't tell you my name. But, I got lost in a sandstorm...and...," she stopped, looking down at her feet.

After a moment's silence, Luke cleared his throat. "Do you need help finding your way back? You certainly don't _look_ like you're from around here..."

She hesitated. "Yes...Could you help me?" She still wouldn't meet his gaze, but she seemed more confident that Luke wouldn't harm her.

Luke studied her. She appeared to be around his age, give or take a little, and she seemed to have quite a bit of spunk too, he thought humorously. It didn't take long for him to make his decision. "Okay, I'll take you out a bit. But it's getting late, so Mos Eisley is probably about as far as I'll be able to take you..."

She smiled slightly and looked up. She had a nice smile, Luke noted. There were a few strands of red hair peeking out from under her hood, and she had remarkably striking green eyes that seemed to be able to stare into his soul. Striking green eyes...Striking...green...eye—Luke bolted up in bed.

A dream. Just a dream...

No, that wasn't _entirely_ true. It had actually happened in real life. He'd snuck the girl into his uncle's house, and she had stayed part of the night. During the middle of the night, however, he had woken up to the feel of something brushing against his cheek. He had started to groggily swat at the annoyance, but something told him to open his eyes instead. After doing so, he had seen the young girl standing over him. Then, with a rustle, she'd just disappeared. He had thought at the time that her sudden disappearance was just a dream, but in the morning, the girl had really left. He hadn't thought about it in a long time...

_That's odd. Why do I suddenly remember it now?_ Luke shook his head to clear it, ignoring his subconscious and attempting to go back to sleep. After a few hours of tossing and turning, he finally fell into a troubled sleep.

* * *

"_Beepp tweet tootle dee?_" 

Luke shot up in bed, again. He glanced at his chrono, which told him it was 0300.

Artoo hooted again, this time more insistently. Luke mustered up a sleepy glare in the droid's direction.

"Artoo, it's too early," he complained. He was about to say something else when he heard the familiar sound of a blaster whine. "Blast!" Luke exclaimed, rolling off his bed and onto the floor. He quickly grabbed his lightsaber off the bedside table and began crawling towards the door. He used the Force to open it and immediately crawled outside. Artoo tried to follow him, but he waved the little droid back.

Several Stormtroopers were marching down the hall, shooting at what looked like very perturbed Security members. Luke inched back into the room to avoid getting hit by ricocheting bolts, and he used the Force to call his blaster out from under the bed to his hand. He leaned on the door frame, still on the ground, and shot a few blasts at the Stormtroopers before ducking back into the apartment. He reluctantly got to his feet, switching his lightsaber on and throwing his blaster onto the bed.

He stepped into the hall, making sure to avoid the blaster fire, and he began reflecting the enemy's laser bolts back to the source.

The Stormtroopers saw him, and, strangely enough, slowed down their attack. The Imperials eventually started backing off, but they only did so after Luke saw a seemingly high-ranking officer speaking at length into a comlink. Before he knew it, all the Imperials were gone.

Luke wondered how they could sneak onto Coruscant and fool New Republic Security...And what in space were they after? Semi-amusedly, he thought, _The NRS must be real paranoid about this security breach_.

A few members of Security and Intelligence came up to him to ask a few questions. After the questioning, Luke went back to his room, yawning all the way.

He drowsily answered Artoo's warbled queries before collapsing on the bed and falling instantly into a deep sleep, forgetting all about his dream...

* * *

A large, dark figure stood, cape billowing eerily in the wind. A cloaked form walked up to him, and stood at attention. The taller one nodded, and the other talked in a low voice. "Things will fall into place, soon, m'lord..." The large figure nodded again, and the smaller form seemed more than slightly disconcerted at the sound that continuously rose and fell like a hollow wind...

* * *

The next morning, Luke woke up to a pincer pulling at his skin. "Ow!" Luke exclaimed, rubbing his arm. "What is it _this_ time Artoo?" He yawned and glanced at the chrono, then he did a double take. It wasn't like him to sleep in so late! 

"Blast! Why didn't you wake me up earlier? I was supposed to be at Leia's for lunch!" he groaned.

Artoo gave a long exasperated whistle that ended with a raspberry.

Luke rolled his eyes at the domed astromech, and then he got dressed in a hurry. He rushed over to the Solo's apartment, hastily ringing the door chime. Leia opened the door and smiled upon seeing him. "Oh, Luke, welcome. You're just in time." Luke was relieved that he wasn't late, and he gave an inner sigh of relief. Han soon appeared at the door.

"Yeah, well, I personally wouldn't mind being late for this particular meal, seeing as Leia actually cooked it hersel—" Han broke off as he was jabbed in the ribs with Leia's elbow. "Uh, I mean, Leia is a, umm, great cook." He began muttering to himself something about the injustices of wives dominating their husbands.

"Next time be more enthusiastic about it!" Leia commanded, elbowing Han again. Han gave her a blend of his two of his favorite looks: his "Hey, it's me!" face and his hurt expression. Luke rolled his eyes with a grin, and Leia looked over at Han sternly, though love clearly showed on her soft features.

_They make a great couple,_Luke reflected. Their faces were so joyful they seemed to shine, and he felt almost envious of them. Although he was disappointed that his sister was constantly avoiding her Jedi training, Luke was happy for her. She shared something with Han that Luke would probably never share with anyone. _'A Jedi feels no passion,'_ he silently quoted. His thoughts flicked momentarily to Callista, the woman he had recently lost, then he shunned them away.

"I'm neglecting my duties as a hostess. Luke, come on in," Leia gestured with a smile, practically pulling him in, while Han mouthed at Luke, "She is getting more demanding all the time!"

Luke chuckled softly.

Everyone sat down at the table where the plates were set out. The twins, their brother, and Chewbacca were all seated on one side, while Han, Leia, and Luke were on the other.

Luke glanced at the table and noticed an extra place. Frowning, he inquired, "Why is there an extra seat?"

Leia answered with a mischievous smile, "I invited Mara over, too. She had some business to attend to, and she said she might be a little late. She told us not to wait for her, but we might as well wait for a few minutes."

Luke looked at his sister suspiciously before reaching out with the Force to brush her emotions. All the Force told him was that she was amused.

Luke mumbled, "Mmhmm," and stared down at his plate with a blank expression.

Han glanced beside him at his wife and mouthed, "I don't think he's buyin' it." Leia shrugged back at him.

"Mommy, daddy, want eat now!" declared two-year old Anakin. He pounded on the table with his little fists, his head barely above it, despite the fact that he was sitting in an elevated seat. Anakin got cranky when he was hungry, and he looked defiant and stubborn.

"Us, too!" Jacen and Jaina said simultaneously.

"We're waiting for—" Leia was interrupted by the door chime. "There she is." Leia got up from her seat and answered the door. Mara stood in front of her, wearing formal business attire. Leia motioned her in, smiling, "Come on in." Mara nodded and stepped inside.

They went into the dining room, and Mara started, seeing Luke. She swiftly regained her poise and sat where Leia directed her: next to Luke. Mara then seethed with annoyance, smiling unconvincingly at Leia.

Leia pretended not to notice Mara's anger, and she took the lids off the steaming dishes. _The food _looks _edible,_ Han thought, humored. He smiled at his wife gratefully, despite his earlier feigned attitude at being wary of even _touching_ something she cooked.

The kids began digging hungrily into their food before the thought of picking up eating utensils had come into the minds of the adults, but soon all of the food was passed around the table and the adults were eating.

The way Chewie scarfed everything down would make one think he hadn't ate anything to eat for days. Han snickered and muttered something to him about table manners. Chewie snarled a very indignant reply, and Han backed off.

After that, things were quiet, and the only sounds were silverware banging against the plates and Chewbacca eating.

Leia looked up at all of the solemn faces, and she decided to start small talk. "Mara, what have you been doing lately?"

Mara's head came up sharply. She finished chewing before replying. "Oh, the usual. Just doing Karrde's bidding..." Mara trailed off. She wasn't feeling very talkative, and she didn't know how in space she had let herself be persuaded to come _near_ Leia Organa Solo's apartment, much less come to a _meal_ inside of it. _Leia must be working on her diplomatic skills... _

Leia, seeing her first conversation attempt fail, decided to try her brother. "Luke, I heard you had a little incident outside your quarters last night..."

"Yeah, Imperials snuck into the building somehow. Intelligence tell you much about it?" He glanced at Leia questioningly.

Leia shook her head. "No. The NRI can't seem to figure out what their objective is...However, they assume it's something that has to do with you, since they were close to your quarters when they attacked..."

Luke seemed to digest that before responding. "Imperials. All they ever wanna do is bug me...or kill me." He glanced jokingly at Mara, the woman who had indeed threatened to kill him numerous times, and she shot back a look full of venom.

"I think there's something else they weren't telling me...I have a feeling that it might've been a test the Imperials constructed, or maybe it has something to do with your Jedi skills," Leia said, looking at her brother.

With the mere mention of the word Jedi, Luke felt sick. It had been only a few days since Callista had left him...

But the pain was still as sharp now as it was then.

They had been the _perfect_ couple.

If only she'd been able to get her Force powers back...

It was all his fault. He intimidated her.

If only he had—

Leia cut into his thoughts, "Luke, come on. She's gone..."

Mara and Han looked questioningly at the two, wondering what in space they were talking about. Then, Han caught on and, with a knowing look, went back to eating. Mara lifted an eyebrow before copying Han with an added snort.

Anakin, finished with his food, ran over to Chewbacca as fast as his short legs would carry him and hopped up onto the hairy Wookiee's lap. Chewie was also done with his meal, so he swung a giggling Anakin up into the air and onto his shoulders. He grabbed their dirty plates and went in the kitchen for a minute. After putting their plates up, with Jacen and Jaina following closely after, Chewie and Anakin ventured into the playroom.

Mara glanced at Luke, then Leia. "Did I miss something?" Mara asked.

Leia mouthed "Callista," and Luke looked sharply at her. Mara looked away from Leia, not even bothering to hide her scorn.

"Face it, Skywalker, she chickened out of any relationship you two _might_ have had. She never was more than the daughter of a b—" Mara was interrupted by Luke, who angrily stood up.

"How would you know? You never knew her well, or even _attempted_ to. She was a great woman!"

He took a breath in an attempt to calm himself. But it didn't work. "At least she was kind, which is a whole lot more than you can say!" Luke hissed, blood boiling.

Chewie popped his head in, then he thought better of it and stuck it back out. Luke was about to say something vulgar when Leia cut in.

"Luke, it's okay. She's gone. You're right: Mara didn't know her well, and she can't form a real opinion, so calm down!" Leia ordered, throwing a glare that could melt durasteel to Mara, who seemed unintimidated.

Luke took a few deep breaths. "I'm sorry for losing my temper..." he trailed off, looking expectantly at Mara.

Mara muttered something unintelligible about men and their mourning periods, then she growled, "Sorry for upsetting you."

Luke nodded, then he went back to wallowing in self-pity. "But she is _not_ sorry for mentioning, in her own way—" Leia glanced at Mara, "that you should get over Callista." Luke looked up, startled at his sister's statement. "She was a great person," Leia said quietly. "But you need to get on to bigger and better things. You can't let a tragedy ruin your life."

Luke considered his reply, then he began, "But—"

Leia wouldn't let him finish. "No but's about it. Now, Han and I—" she elbowed Han sharply, "have to go and check on something in the kitchen. Right, Han?"

"Ow, oh, yeah! The uh, kitchen droid has been um, acting up." Han lied unconvincingly. He rushed into the kitchen with Leia, leaving Mara and Luke alone.

They both stared at their plates, unsure of what to say. Luke glanced up, deciding to attempt conversation and make up for his sister's rare failure. "When did you arrive on Coruscant?" He looked at Mara's face, waiting for a reply.

She paused. "A few weeks ago." She shot Luke a look that clearly meant that he should remain silent.

Luke pretended he didn't see it and continued on. "Why are you on Coruscant?...And why didn't you drop in and say hi?" He steadily met her gaze.

"Is that any of _your_ business?" Mara snarled. She looked at the expression on his face and sighed. "I'm here for...business-related reasons..."

"Oh, really? Smuggling something or another for Karrde?" Luke said, looking exasperated. "Transporting some black-market spice?"

"For your information...I am...negotiating with some...future business prospects," Mara finished, feeling a bit lame.

"Are these so-called future business prospects spice dealers?" Luke demanded. Mara didn't answer him. "Are they?" Luke looked at her, angry. After glancing at her face, his anger faded away like leaves in the breeze.

It was at that moment that Leia came in the room, her face white, as if she'd seen a ghost. "Luke...C-could you come here for a minute?"

Luke froze: he had a bad feeling about this. He got up, muttered, "Excuse me," and went in the other room with Leia and Han.

"What is it!" Luke asked, afraid of the reply.

Leia bit at her lip, then said, "You better sit down." As soon as Luke was seated, she began. "The Jedi Academy...was...attacked." She looked at Luke's expressionless face, then continued. "They're sending a droid over to report the casualties..." Then, as if on cue, the doorbell rang. Leia got up and let the droid in, and it followed her back to Han and Luke.

"Requesting password and voice analyzation," the droid said, monotoned. It was a small, compact dark gray droid with red sensors, repulsorlifts, and pincers for arms.

Leia licked her lips, "Blue dewbacks and black gornts are _not_ party animals." Luke and Han looked at her quizzically, and she shrugged. "The twins came up with that one."

"Password and voice analyzation complete," the droid droned.

The droid started on with the casualties, and Luke listened, sickened. So many were dead...

He sat back and squeezed his eyes shut, a small part of his brain wondering why he hadn't felt their deaths, through the Force.

Leia looked at him sadly. She wasn't very close to most of them, but some were her friends.

The list seemed to never end. Kirana Ti was in a coma. Kam Solusar had a concussion, and was in no condition to talk. Tionne was also in bad condition, but might be able to speak soon. Kyp...was dead. Luke had listened with horror when all the names were read, but this one was among the worst...Han must hurt terribly at this one. He had been very close to Kyp.

Sure enough, through the Force, Luke could sense Han's shock, and had he looked he would have noticed that Han had a panicked look on his face.

"He—Kyp was just a...just a...kid...," Han stammered out. "He was too young to, to die..." Han's eyes were pain-racked, and he strove to keep them from welling up with unusual tears. Kyp had been his companion on several adventures, and they'd saved each other's necks as well.

"It's okay Han, shh," Leia said quietly, enfolding him in her arms. She sent soothing thoughts through the Force to him and then glanced at Luke. His eyes were still tightly pressed together, and she could sense grief emanating from him through the Force. The emotions were abruptly blocked off when Luke sensed her attention towards him.

Luke stood up, eyes open, looking frantically around. He muttered, "Gone, all gone." Then, he himself was gone.

Leia wasn't sure whether to chase after her brother, or to comfort Han. Mara chose that moment to walk into the room, and Leia felt a small amount of relief.

"What happened?" Mara inquired, looking at Han and Leia, then around the room. "Where's Skywalker?" she questioned, noticing that Luke was gone.

"The Academy was...attacked, and Luke's taking it very hard. Do you think—" Leia glanced up hopefully at Mara, "—you could go try to calm him down?"

Mara looked at Leia with a harsh reply on her lips, but the words died unsaid. "Fine. I'll go," she said with a sigh. Then, with that, she too left. Leia watched her leave, worried, then she went back to soothing Han.

* * *

Mara reached out through the Force and sensed Luke's turmoil. She picked up her pace, and finally caught up with him in the halls. He was quietly wandering around, looking like he had somewhere he needed to be, though it was likely that he didn't actually have a specific destination. Mara put her arm on his and tugged slightly. He jerked his arm away from her and stopped walking, glaring at her, his eyes full of a mixture of hate, pain, fear, sadness, and many other emotions. 

For a moment, Mara was sure that he was about to lash out at her angrily through the Force.

Luke trembled, as if pondering whether to do just that, then he seemed to make a decision, and he started moving swiftly away from her.

"I don't think so, Skywalker. Get back here, now!" she yelled after him, noting with satisfaction that he halted, although he didn't move towards her. She went up to him, and with an icy look in her eyes, she asked, "Where do you think you're going?"

Luke just looked at her blankly.

"Well? I asked you a question!" Mara demanded.

"I...was going...to the...hangar bays...I was going to fly my X-wing." Luke finished, inwardly startled that that was where he really did want to go.

"Were you just going to fly your troubles away? Do you actually think that would help?" Mara said, with disgust. "When something bad happens, _talk_ to someone about it. Keeping everything inside won't help you!" Mara realized then that this was advice she should also listen to. Not that she ever _would_, but still...

"That coming from a women who hides inside a ship all day from _her_ problems!" Luke sneered. His mood shifted suddenly, and he sobered instantly. "So many are dead. I was close to several...trained them...All were like family...They're dead, not just gone, dead. Some aren't, but they're mortally wounded...My life..." Luke trailed off, got a somewhat better hold on himself, then asked her a question that had been bothering him, "Why didn't I feel their deaths?"

Mara ignored his last question, not having an answer for it herself. "Yes, they're gone, and they aren't coming back. They were an important part of your life, but you need to cope with their...departure. Mourning the loss of friends is honorable, but not at the expense of the present," Mara told him. She also found it a little strange that he hadn't felt their deaths, but she didn't want to dwell on that now.

Luke heard from her words that he'd said to himself before with other tragic deaths. Many people close to him had died: Uncle Owen, Aunt Beru, Biggs, Obi-Wan, Yoda, Darth Vader—no, Anakin Skywalker, he inwardly reminded himself. There were other deaths too, several from Rogue Squadron. He tightly closed his eyes, leaned back against the wall, and slowly slid down into a seated position. He pulled his knees up and rested his head on them. After a few moments, he looked up with pain-filled eyes. "I've been through so much—" his voice broke.

Mara was slightly surprised that for once he wasn't being selfless about everything. She went over and sat down beside him. A Duro passed by them in the hall, glanced at them curiously, then continued on to its destination. "You do realize that crying about it won't help anything, farmboy," she said, trying to distance herself. She wasn't good with emotional matters.

"I know sympathy isn't your strong point, but can't you even do a good impression?" he questioned, almost begging her.

She didn't know what to say...

Luke fought against the tears at first, then he did what he'd wanted to since his aunt and uncle died: let himself go. Sobs shook his body, and his sorrow and misgivings came pouring out.

Mara sat next to him stiffly, unsure of what exactly she should do.

"Well, one thing you _could_ do is go away and save us all the trouble," Luke gritted, clenching his legs tightly.

Mara just stared at him, miffed that he had read her thoughts.

With one last sniff, Luke said, "Now, I—" he hiccuped, looking sheepish, then continued, "—am going to go to the hangar now..." He stood up, and started to leave, but his manners kicked in. He mumbled a good-bye to Mara, barely keeping himself from offering a hand to help her up, and shot off down the corridor, leaving Mara behind, staring at his back and muttering something about a lonesome farmboy/Jedi Master.

* * *

Luke went to the hangar bay, and his curiosity was piqued when he found several techs standing by his X-wing. When he saw they were arguing with Artoo, he laughed, momentarily forgetting the tragic events that had been weighing so heavily on his mind a few moments earlier. A Verpine technician came up to Luke and said, "Sir, we were trying to make some modifications to your X-wing, but this little droid would not have it." He gestured to Artoo. 

Luke looked sternly at the R2 unit, but there was a bit of humor in his voice. "Why are you bossing them around?" Artoo tootled a reply. "Right, they were making modifications..." Artoo gurgled something else. "Oh? So the shields were boosted...That's a bad thing?" Artoo twittered exasperatedly. "Ohh..." Luke looked sharply at the nearest technician. "Were you boosting the shields at the expense of losing 15 of the speed?"

"Yes, sir. We thought the extra shield power would be handy in a battle," the technician said, looking a bit afraid, Imperial propaganda about Jedi coming to mind.

"Have you ever fought against a TIE fighter Mister—?" Luke asked.

"Jantah. Fernd Jantah," the technician supplied.

"Mr. Jantah, have you ever been in an X-wing in a dogfight against a TIE fighter?" Luke asked, looking at him.

"No sir," he answered.

"Imagine this. You're in a X-wing, heavily shielded. You shoot at a TIE fighter, but it jerks out of the way. You head after it and keep shooting, but the TIE, which is much faster than you because your ship just got a modification that took a lot of your speed away, comes around and maneuvers into a good position behind you and blasts away at your shields. If you were too slow to move away from the TIE's fire, would the extra shield power actually help much? It might keep you alive for a little while longer, but the inevitable would happen anyway: your death. So, isn't it better to have everything equaled out, rather than concentrated on one area?" Luke finished. Fernd remained silent. "Well?"

"You're right sir," Fernd motioned an astromech droid over. It beeped an inquiry, and Jantah answered, "Could you give Mr. Skywalker a list of possible upgrades, showing good _and_ bad consequences, in case he should change his mind?"

The droid hooted an affirmative, and a small datadisk popped out from one of its compartments. It extended its pincer-claw with the disk gripped in it. Fernd took it, and handed it to Luke. "We hadn't yet made the modifications, thanks to your droid." Fernd paused, "Oh, and one more thing...Don't you wish to get a new astromech droid? That one is outdated and we have in stock—"

"Get rid of Artoo? Never. We've been through a lot together," Luke cut in, grinning at an indignant Artoo and feeling a sense of deja vu.

"Sorry, just a suggestion, sir."

"Thank you. I'll look over this." Luke tapped the disk. "Is that all?"

"Yessir," a different technician replied, motioning for the others to follow. They all moved on to other business, Jantah giving Luke a last ambivalent look, full of awe and a touch of annoyance that a pilot would dare to give him orders, even if that pilot _was_ the only Jedi Master in the galaxy. Luke turned back to Artoo and his X-wing, shaking his head and grinning in exasperation.

"Wanna go for a ride?" Luke asked the droid.

Artoo beeped an excited confirmation, and Luke climbed up the rope ladder, donning his helmet. He shut the hatch and ran a quick maintenance check. "Everything okay back there, Artoo?" Artoo, who had just been lowered by a crane into his socket, warbled an affirmative.

Luke got clearance to get out of the hangar, and he took his X-wing into Coruscant's atmosphere. The X-wing went through many seemingly impossible flips and other maneuvers, as Luke released some of his excess energy and frustration into flying. He had done just such a difficult flip when an unidentified blip popped up on his scopes.

"Hey, Luke, thought I'd drop by," came a voice on Luke's comm unit.

"Wedge!" Luke exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I was going out for target practice." Wedge said innocently. "Would you like to join me?"

"Uh huh." Luke glanced at Wedge's X-wing suspiciously. "Oh, all right. Where are the targets set up?"

"Out a few klicks from Coruscant's atmosphere." Wedge answered.

"Okay. You lead the way." Wedge's X-wing started moving away from the planet, and Luke followed him. "Are we gonna just hit the targets? Or are we going to engage in a dogfight, too?" Luke queried.

"Well, you _are_ a bit rusty...How about targets first, then a one-on-one battle?"

"Me? Rusty?" Luke snorted. "Yeah, right...You're on!"

"All right. I'm sending you the target coordinates."

Luke's X-wing beeped, "Got 'em. You go in first, General." Luke taunted.

"Okay, Commander." Wedge replied.

Luke made a face at the use of his resigned title. He turned around in his not-quite-so-spacious X-wing. "Everything okay back there, Artoo?"

Artoo whistled back. Luke looked at the translation: _Of course everything's okay. What do you expect with a good droid like me? _

"Well, you were being awfully quiet. And what do you mean 'good droid'? I remember a certain little droid defying its rightful master and—"

Artoo beeped harshly. _I saved you didn't I?_ scrolled across the screen.

"That's beside the point—"

"Luke, are you there?" Wedge's voice came over the comm.

"Yeah. Sorry, I was just having a little argument with my astromech," Luke replied.

"Uh huh. Prepare to watch me blow these targets out of the sky. Come line up beside me," Wedge ordered.

Luke complied, bringing his X-wing in line.

"All right, Luke. Get ready, on my mark. Three...two...one...mark."

The X-wings sped towards the targets, blasting away with their low-powered beams. Finally, they called it quits and tallied up the scores. Luke had one point more than Wedge.

"Hey, Luke, I was being easy on you." Wedge said, smiling inside his X-wing. Gate, his R5 astromech unit, buzzed quietly, amused.

"That's not what I recall you saying, I clearly remember hearing that _I_ was rusty and that _you_ would blow the targets out of the sky," Luke grinned.

"I changed my mind."

"Right," Luke said, sarcastically. "Ready to dogfight?"

"You better believe it." Wedge looked at his sensors. "Tell me when you're ready."

Artoo bleeped that everything was go.

"Okay, Wedge, prepare to be defeated."

"Nope, sorry. It's vice versa. May the Force be with you, because you're _definitely_ going to need it!" Wedge's X-wing twisted around to face Luke's.

At the word Force, Luke's gut lurched. He pushed those thoughts out of his mind, this time a bit annoyed at himself. "No, I think _that's_ vice versa!"

Luke brought the joystick up between his knees, bringing his X-wing straight up, the cockpit's artificial gravity pushing down on him. Wedge tried to follow his maneuver, and Luke curved downward, heading straight towards Wedge, "lasers" blasting away at his shields. Wedge sustained a little simulated damage according to Gate, and he curved out of their head-on collision. "Ya gettin' scared Wedge?" Luke asked him, grinning inside his cockpit, as he brought his X-wing "level."

"Nah." Wedge replied. "I'm just trying to give you a little bit of a chance!" Wedge turned abruptly solemn. "Hey Luke, I wanted to ask you a question..."

"Sure, Wedge, what is it?" Luke asked, curious.

"Well, one of our pilots decided to retire, and we have an open spot in Rogue Squadron for someone," Wedge said slowly. "I was wondering if you might be interested?"

Luke thought for a moment. His responsibilities at the Academy were mostly void now, since there were few survivors...He winced. It would be pointless to try to rebuild until this threat was taken care of...So he might as well join the Rogues—perhaps he'd run into the person who had killed and harmed several of his students...

A little voice in his head tried to speak out against the idea, but he tried to convince it that he wasn't running away from his problems. "Sure, Wedge," Luke heard himself saying, "I'd love to."

Wedge reached a hand up to wipe his brow in relief. Instead, his hand met up with his helmet. Wedge grumbled a little profanity before saying, "That's great, Luke! We have a mission coming up soon, with a few days before we have to do anything, so you can pack and say your temporary farewells."

"Okay...So who is in with the Rogues now-a-days?" Luke asked Wedge.

Wedge began listing off members of Rogue Squadron that Luke really didn't know, and then he said mischievously, "And, of course, there's Corran Horn...I believe you remember him."

"Yes, I remember him vividly...He made me thankful Han doesn't have Jedi potential," Luke said solemnly.

Wedge burst out laughing, "You got that right! Anyway, do you remember Tycho?"

"Yeah, I remember him very well." Luke remarked.

"There's also Hobbie...and Wes Janson." Wedge made a strangling noise in the back of his throat.

Luke laughed, "Has he gotten that bad?"

"Worse, much worse. Don't be surprised if you find anything like a stuffed toy Ewok floating around," Wedge said, grinning.

"Ah...Still has the brain of a two-year old, but somehow manages to be a genius at pranks, eh?" Luke rolled his eyes.

"That would be putting it lightly...Anyway, he's a great shot with a blaster, which helps for ground missions..." Wedge listed off the rest of the Rogue pilots, then he glanced down at his wrist chrono. "Hey Luke, I have to go to a meeting. You know how busy us Generals are." Wedge laughed, "See ya later." His X-wing did a final loop to show off, then he headed toward Coruscant's surface.

Luke grinned. He'd probably better go back, too. "Artoo?"

The droid hooted a query.

"Let's head back."

Artoo bleeped an affirmative, and Luke took his X-wing back to the hangar. He climbed down the ladder's rungs and used the Force to levitate Artoo out of the back of the fighter. Artoo was used to this, but, nevertheless, a muted beep came from him. The R2-unit wanted to be left behind with the X-wing, so Luke let him have his wish.

Luke headed back to his quarters and collapsed onto the couch. He told himself he would just rest there for a moment, but he dozed off, due to his previous restless night.

* * *

_  
Luke was coming into one of the temples on Yavin 4. Earlier, he had sensed a dark presence in this temple, and even now he saw a shadowy figure. It stepped out of the shadows, and Luke saw that it was a caped figure...with a dark helmet on. The mechanical breathing of Darth Vader echoed tauntingly in Luke's ears. _

Vader brought his lightsaber up and ignited it. Luke stared at the man in shock. He had thought he'd died long ago.

Luke snapped out of it and swiftly brought his own saber out, adding some green to the dim red light in the room. They locked sabers, slashing and parrying with one another. Vader's saber slipped past Luke's defenses, cutting off a piece of his sleeve and burning some of the skin underneath. There was a sizzling noise and Luke cried out in pain—

—and woke up.

Luke was sweating heavily, and the arm of the couch where his head was resting was partially damp from his perspiration. Luke gasped for air, and touched the part of his arm that'd been burned in his dream. There was a slight red mark there, but Luke just put it off to banging it against the couch.

Darth Vader was _dead_.

Luke wiped a hand over his brow. It came back wet, and he sighed before going into the 'fresher to take a shower.

He shed his clothes and turned the water on hot. It felt great against his skin, and he could imagine it cleansing his soul of any remainder of Darth Vader that was still inside him.

Reluctantly, Luke finally got out and put on his robe. His chrono said that it was late, but he didn't feel like sleeping.

He went into his kitchenette and prepared a cup of hot chocolate.

Sipping it, he went out on the balcony. Leia always got him a room with a great view when he visited Coruscant. He looked out over the city at the lights that were blinking brilliantly. Coruscant was always active, even at night.

Luke took a deep breath, then let it out.

He could really use guidance right now.

Getting back in with Rogue Squadron felt right, but was that what he really needed to be doing? Should he be searching directly instead of indirectly for whoever had destroyed the Jedi Praxeum? Were these dreams he'd been having an important link of some kind? Luke had _rarely_ had dreams since he became a Jedi Knight.

He groaned. His life had been harder than most average creatures. He had met up with many deaths, more likely to come, and he had seen much in his 23 years. Yes, he was still young, but he felt old. Depression nearly began to overwhelm him.

"Luke, you've led a troubled life, and you will continue to lead one, filled with danger." Luke looked up quickly and saw the shimmering spirit-form of Obi-Wan Kenobi. "I wish I could take away that danger, but it is an action that I am not capable of. Thus, I can only instruct you, and even then, only a little. I am giving you another option that you can take. You may continue with Rogue Squadron, or you may go to Dagobah, for you will find something there."

"What will I find there?" Luke asked.

Obi-Wan seemed to not be able to hear his inquiry. "This is your path, you must choose. You have a short amount of time to think about it. Use this time wisely. I must go, I should not have appeared to you even now..." Obi-Wan slowly began to fade away. "May the Force be with you...Always."

"Ben, wait! Don't go!" Luke said frantically. He didn't want to lose him again! But it was too late; the spirit was gone. "More decisions...More decisions," Luke mumbled almost deliriously. He put his mug up and walked, zombie-like, into his bedroom. He collapsed on his bed and fell asleep, still thinking about the future and his "other option."


	2. Chapter Two

Luke woke up gradually. So...tired...

He finally made himself sit up in bed, grunting. His thoughts flickered back to last night.

_Dagobah,_ a little voice in the back of his mind supplied. _Dagobah, you will go to. Better your journey shall be, along that path._ Luke shook his head, willing the almost familiar voice away. But it refused to be swayed.

Luke sighed, feeling ambivalent. He would have to inform Wedge of this sudden change of plans...However, he _would_ try to come back to be with the Rogues if he weren't kept at Dagobah for too long...

A loud warble came from the back of the room, and Luke jumped. He glanced over at Artoo, who gave another beep, this time sounding sheepish that he had startled his master. "Artoo, don't do that!" Luke admonished. "You frightened me!"

Artoo just gave a blunt blat and rolled forward towards the bed.

"Okay, I'm getting ready!" Luke said, shaking his head with a grin.

He stumbled groggily over to his small closet and grabbed one of the normal black outfits he liked to wear. Then he went into the refresher and took a quick shower. Afterwards, he came back out.

Artoo whistled impatiently at him to hurry up; Wedge had just called.

Luke sighed, "Artoo, something else has come up. I—well, just tell him that I have other urgent matters to attend to, but nothing extremely serious." Artoo tootled a query. "I'll tell you on the way there. I'm gonna go say good-bye to Leia so she won't have a nerf, and I still have to pack." Artoo hummed an okay and headed over to the comm station. Luke gathered together what he would need for a hopefully not-too-lengthy trip, and he set the bag over by Artoo to take to his X-wing.

When Luke arrived at Leia's apartment, he rang the door chime. Chewbacca opened the door and roared his hello. Luke chuckled. "Hey, Chewie. Nice to see you, too. Are Han and Leia in?"

Chewie growled an affirmative, and Luke stepped inside. The Wookiee led Luke to the living room.

Han came in, rubbing a towel over his wet head, saying, "Chewie who was at the—" He took the towel off his head, noticing Luke. "Hey, kid!" He exclaimed. "Heard you were gonna be rejoining the Rogues," Han said, grinning. "I always knew you'd be back to piloting."

Luke winced. "Yeah, well, there were some complications, and I have to decline Wedge's invitation. I have to make a little trip..." he trailed off.

"Oh?" Han raised an eyebrow. "Any reason I should know about?"

Luke shook his head quickly. "No biggie...Just something I have to do."

"Now, kid, if this has to do with Callis—"

"No!" Luke quickly put in. "It doesn't." He bit his lip and looked at the floor.

Leia walked in the door saying, "Han where did you put—" She noticed Luke. "Oh, hey, Luke." Leia looked at their faces. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing important, Leia," Luke said. "I was just telling Han that I have to go on a little trip and won't be able to rejoin the Rogues."

"Luke, where are you going?" Leia asked, worried.

"It isn't important," Luke said, trying to dodge her question. He looked at his wrist chrono. "I had better be on my way." He gave a confused Leia a hug and a soft kiss on the cheek. He looked over at Han.

"Luke," Han gave him a hard stare. "Can't you tell us where you are going? What if you get in danger, like you always do when you go off by yourself, and we have to come rescue you? That provides complications you know..."

Luke sighed, giving in. "I'm going to Dagobah to check something out."

"Oh?" Leia raised an eyebrow.

Luke looked at his sister sheepishly. "I'm not quite sure what I will find...But it won't be dangerous." He gave her a pleading stare, and this time she sighed and gave in.

"Good luck, kid," Han said, embracing Luke.

Chewie roared and got his own hug in. Luke made a little gasping noise as Chewie squeezed his ribs a little too hard. Chewie rumbled an apology, his paw mussing Luke's hair up a bit. Luke grinned, and patted the huge Wookie's chest. "It isn't like I am going to be gone for too long. I'll be back soon," Luke told them, running his hand through his ruffled hair.

"Yeah, but every time we let you run off by yourself you manage to get in trouble," Han remarked.

"Han, I am a mature and capable adult. You do not need to worry about me!" Luke exclaimed.

"Yeah. Sure."

* * *

It didn't take long for Luke's X-wing to clear the atmosphere and enter hyperspace. 

Luke leaned back against his seat wearily.

Artoo inquired once again about their destination, and Luke watched the text flicker across the screen. _Why do we have to go back there, of all places? _

"I saw Ben...in a vision. He told me it might be better for me to go back, that something was waiting for me there. I can always rejoin the Rogues, but this choice may not present itself again. Looks like we just have to wait and find out what's there..."

Artoo bleeped something derogatory about taking advice from dead Jedi. Luke just smiled and leaned further back, closing his eyes.

* * *

Artoo hooted at Luke to wake up. Luke mumbled and wiped the sleep from his eyes. He pulled the hyperspace lever after checking a few dials, and they jumped back into realspace. The swampy world of Dagobah hung before them, almost ominously. 

Luke brought the X-wing into the atmosphere, hoping that it didn't crash like it did the first time he came here. His worries turned out to be pointless, since his landing was smooth and on land, or what passed for land on this forsaken planet.

Luke took off his helmet and brushed his hair back. Then he pushed up on the cockpit's roof and hopped out, using the Force to cushion his landing. Artoo warbled at Luke and started to get out of his socket, but he was soon held in place by the Force.

Luke was not quite ready for him to get out. "Stay here, Artoo. I'm going to go look around."

Artoo gave an electronic raspberry but stayed put, though it wasn't as if he had a choice.

The X-wing's lights penetrated the foggy darkness, making the situation even more eerie.

The Force seemed to offer a suggestion to him, so Luke turned on his glowrod and trudged through the swamp towards Yoda's hut. He was expecting it to be utterly destroyed by the vegetation, as it had been when he had found the beckon call during the whole Thrawn incident, but he was surprised to find it intact. He was even more shocked when a living, breathing Yoda came out of his small home, leaning on his gimer stick.

Yoda pointed the stick at him. "Expecting you, I was. Disappointed, I was not."

"Y-Yoda. You were dead...I—I saw you die," Luke stammered out.

"A crutch for you, I was. Needed that, you did not." Yoda sighed. "For the best it was."

"The best? I needed guidance, and were you there? I needed to train more, I wasn't ready to face Vader, and—" Luke was interrupted by the wizened little Jedi Master.

"Strong, you were. Confidence, you needed. A crutch—need you did not. By your side to help was where you wanted me, but your destiny that was not. Had you known I was alive, your all you would not have given. The last hope you were, and needed your full cooperation did I. Debate we can later—for the Jedi it is time to eat as well," Yoda informed him with a croaky laugh. He headed back into his hut, muttering, "Good food, come come."

Luke groaned. He had an odd feeling of deja vu, but he didn't know why it bugged him so. He went and grabbed his bag from his X-wing before he crouch-walked into Yoda's hut.

The green Jedi Master was scurrying around, pots and pans clanging together, and (judging by the smell) something—probably reptilian, Luke thought with disgust—was cooking.

Luke sat down, watching the little green alien bustling around. Just then, a beautiful young woman crouch-walked in, saying, "Yoda have you seen my—" she stopped as she noticed Luke. "Who are you?" She turned to Yoda. "Yoda, what's he doing here?" She had long black hair that was pulled up in a ponytail, and warm brown eyes that one could almost melt into...

If she were happy.

But those eyes were not looking too kindly upon Luke.

"Here for business, he is. Question, you should not," Yoda informed her.

"Oh, that's just wonderful," the girl moaned. "It would be nice if you would tell me when we have company."

Luke gave her an amused look. Then he looked over at Yoda. _Who is she? And why is she so bitter?_ he inserted in Yoda's mind.

_Tontay Novablast, _came the reply. _Another student of mine. Her parents died long ago. Your age, she is._

Luke looked at her, startled. _She's older than she looks,_ Luke thought

Tontay gave him a look full of venom. "So what's your name? How do you know Yoda?"

"I am _Jedi Master_—" Luke stressed the words, "—Luke Skywalker."

The young lady gave him a dubious look. "You? One of Yoda's students? Hah! I guess you can't judge a datacard by the box it comes in."

Luke was about to shoot off a sarcastic reply, but Yoda, his eyes glittering, stated, "Prepared is the food."

Dinner was eaten in quiet until Yoda chose to break the silence. "Much training, she needs. Help her, you must...Old, am I..."

Luke gave Yoda a look that said 'I don't think so,' and it mirrored the expression on Tontay's face. "Why would I train _her_?" Luke exclaimed. She was nothing but a selfish brat! How could _she_ be Jedi material?

Yoda gave Luke a serious look. _You have taught many...But they were destroyed easily. Here you will have supervision, but a chance to start over as well,_ Yoda said to Luke through the Force.

Luke gave Yoda a helpless look and sighed. "All right. I'll train her...But I think she's the one to talk to." He looked over at Tontay, who did not seem very happy.

"Does anyone ever ask what I want?" Tontay snarled. "Do I get to voice what I want to do?"

Yoda gave her a stern look. She glared at him but soon weakened under his gaze.

"Early tomorrow morning you will start," Yoda said. "For now, you must sleep."

Hearing someone mention sleep, Tontay's candy-pink pittin jumped out from under a shelf and onto Tontay's lap. She smiled and stroked the creature's fur. "Deedah!"

"Deedah? That's a funny name," Luke chuckled.

Tontay glared at Luke, and the pittin snarled at him. She laughed at the pittin and gave Luke another annoyed look. "Where is he going to sleep?"

Yoda hesitated. "Sleeping in his X-wing would not do. Crowded, it is. Share your cot, you must."

Tontay's eyes grew as wide as a Death Star. "No way. He can sleep on the floor."

Yoda shook his head, "Ache, his back would in the morning. Do, that would not."

"But he can't sleep in the same bed as me!" Tontay Novablast looked appalled. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself..."

"Share the bed, you will, or sleep on the floor, you shall," Yoda declared.

Luke and Tontay looked at each other with disgust while the pittin made a weird noise.

"Well, I'm not sleeping on the floor!" Luke stated, glancing at the animal.

"Don't expect _me_ to! Oh, why can't you sleep in your dumb old X-wing anyway?" a mortified Tontay asked.

"Would _you_ want to sleep in a cramped X-wing?" Luke asked, annoyed.

"Do I have to answer truthfully?"

"In the bed, will you both sleep?" Yoda cut in.

Luke made an exasperated noise, and Tontay bit her lip.

"Fine, Yoda. Have it your way. We'll share the cot," Tontay sighed.

"Good. Rest, you need. Sleep, you will now." Yoda headed off to his own small cot, leaving them alone.

"All right. I want you to get one thing straight: _no_ funny business!" Tontay ordered Luke. After holding his gaze for a moment, she sighed, put Deedah on the floor, then crouch-walked to her room, the pittin following with a flick of her dark fluffy tail. Luke followed and glanced at the cot. It looked awfully small...

Tontay took on a business-like tone. "You will stay on your side of the bed. I get the side opposite the wall—just don't go trying to push me off during the middle of the night. Clear?"

"As crystal," Luke answered. He just wanted some rest.

Tontay gave him a warning look. "I'm going in the other room to change into my nightclothes. You can change in here." She grabbed some clothes and briskly went into the other room.

Luke was about to say something when his bag was thrown in the room. "Thanks," he muttered. He quickly changed into a sleeping shirt and pants.

Tontay came into the room, wrapped in a robe. Luke lifted an eyebrow.

Tontay looked down at the ground. "I—I—" She looked up sharply. "Get in bed, please," she said in a voice that left no room for argument.

Luke rolled his eyes and got on his side of the bed. Tontay studied him for a moment, and he inquired, "Well? What is it?"

"Nothing." She gingerly got into the bed, carefully staying on her half. She shifted uncomfortably.

Luke looked over at her, amused. "I don't bite."

Tontay twisted her head sharply. "I know. But men always seem to take advantage of women," she responded.

Luke gave her a doubtful, exasperated look. "Uh huh. And just how many men have you seen in your lifetime?"

Tontay didn't meet his gaze. "I've read a lot of stories about men. They always talk about it..."

"Life isn't just some big holo-story is it? I bet the only stuff those stories have about Jedi Knights is a lot of blather about tall monstrous creatures without an ounce of mercy in their bones. But here we have little Yoda, a green and wrinkled Jedi Master, quite an opposite of the holo-stories." Luke grinned at her.

"Well, I can't argue with that..."

"Good."

"I hate it when you're right."

"When was I ever wrong?"

Tontay snarled, "Well, you haven't been wrong yet in my presence, but everyone is wrong sometime."

"Not me." Luke tried to conceal his smile from her.

"Yeah, like I am naive enough to believe that obvious lie."

"Who says it's a lie?" Luke asked defensively.

"I am not only saying it's a lie, I know. Yoda didn't raise a fool."

"Yeah, yeah. Now, would you be quiet so I can get some rest?" Luke asked mock-sleepily.

Tontay muttered a Huttese obscenity. "All right."

"Tsk, tsk. Such big language for such a little gir—" Luke was beaten on the head with a pillow before he could finish his sentence. "Hey!"

"Hay is for gundarks, you wampa," came the amused reply.

"Have you ever actually seen a wampa personally?" Luke asked Tontay.

"No," Novablast said sheepishly. "Why?"

"Well, I've met one face to face, and I tell you what, I am much more handsome than one of those monstrous beasts!" Luke declared.

_Bonk!_ he was hit on the head again. He made a noise in the back of his throat and brought his hands upward in a position that a monster might and launched at her.

He backed her up against the wall and prevented her from escaping by placing his hands on opposite sides of her on the wall. The closeness was awkward, but especially so for Tontay. She twitched a little, uneasy at their nearness. Luke hesitated, placing his finger against her mouth.

"Back off, slimeball!" hissed Tontay.

"Make me, you bantha!"

"Don't push me!"

"Trying to get sleep, am I," came a tired voice near the doorway, saving Tontay. The two humans twisted around and hurriedly got out of their entanglement.

Hearing Yoda, the pittin came out from under the bed grumpily and jumped onto Tontay.

"We were, ahem, just fixing to go to sleep, but, uh, Luke got something in his eye and I was, uh, helping him get it out," Tontay informed Yoda.

"Mmhm," Yoda said, not believing a word she was saying. He turned around, the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth not evident to the two young ones in the next room.

Luke cleared his throat and turned away from Tontay, who also turned and faced the wall. They lay down on their backs, the pittin lying down on Tontay's stomach, purring and letting out a purposeful hiss at Luke. Silence ensued after that until Tontay broke it. "Luke, are you asleep?"

Luke rolled his eyes and answered, "Yeah, I'm asleep."

Tontay was quiet for a moment. "All right..."

Luke smiled and turned off the glowrod, whispering, "Good night..."

Tontay grinned into the darkness. "You, too..."

And with that, they really were asleep.

* * *

Tontay yawned and nestled deeper into the covers. She opened her eyes groggily, finding herself face-to-face with Luke. She muffled her scream so that it only came out as a squeak. Luke remained undisturbed, snoring lightly. The pittin lay on his chest, and Tontay smiled in spite of herself, moving some stray blondish-brown hairs out of his face. He looked very youthful while sleeping... 

_I wonder how old he is? When I first saw him, I could've sworn he was in his late 30s, but was that his real age, or just the weight of what he has been through?...It must have been his eyes. They made him seem older. They looked haunted and aged...But right now he looks just like an innocent child..._Stroking her hand along his cheek, she fell back asleep, curled up against him.

Yoda came in the room a while later and tapped Luke on the head with his gimer stick. "Luke. Luke...Wake, you must!" He hit Luke harder, "Up, you must get!"

Luke groaned and moved a hand up to block the stick. "I'm up, I'm up..." He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep.

_Thonk!_ Luke was hit again.

Luke snarled and swatted at Yoda, who managed to get out of arm's length. The pittin growled at Yoda as well, then she looked at a shocked Luke, hissed, dug her claws into his chest, nipped his nose, then jumped off the bed and stalked into the kitchen.

"Up, you must wake. Now, you will do it," Yoda supplied.

"Uh huh," replied a disgruntled Luke. He looked after Deedah, his brain fogged by sleep. Yoda left the room, and Luke tapped on Tontay's shoulder. When she didn't respond, he hit her harder. Luke thought for a moment, then he placed his hands firmly on her back, shoving her out of the bed. Though still half asleep, she screeched when she hit the floor.

"What the heck was that for? I thought I told you not to shove me on the floor!"

"What? You mean you didn't deserve it?" Luke grinned.

"Me?" Tontay exclaimed indignantly. "You thought _I _deserved to be dropped on the uncushioned floor?"

"I'm glad we think along the same lines."

Tontay hadn't taken her robe off when she had gone to bed last night, and it had loosened quite a bit. When she realized it, she pulled the sides of her robe tightly together.

Luke grinned at her, "Are we feeling a little uncomfortable this morning?"

"Shouldn't you be getting ready?" Tontay changed the subject. "Yoda is gonna be working us hard."

"Us? Why would he work us hard if you are the student?" Luke queried.

"Because he wants all people to push themselves to the limit; because you are his former pupil; because he wants everyone to do their best; and because he's Yoda," reasoned Tontay.

"Okay. I suppose that's good enough for me. I'll go in the other room to change," Luke offered, digging out some black clothing.

Tontay nodded and went to grab an outfit for herself. Finally, they finished getting ready and ate breakfast. The pink furball seemed anxious to catch a nap, and Yoda seemed eager for them to begin. "Follow me, you must," he ordered, then he headed out in the murky swamp. Tontay gave Luke a weird look, which he returned, and they followed the little green man out into the wilderness.

* * *

Yoda finally stopped near a huge fallen tree. He looked about, seeming satisfied, then he sat down on one of the smaller tree branches sticking out from it. He lifted up his chin and looked at Luke. "Her training, you shall begin here. Basics she knows, ask her for details." 

Luke sighed then asked, "Have you had the...physical aspects of your training?"

Tontay's eyes opened widely, "Yes, and I ain't going through that again!"

Luke snapped his fingers, "Darn!"

Yoda chuckled, and Luke glanced at him before asking Tontay, "You had any saber practice?"

"No," came the tentative reply.

"Well, let's start on that!"

"What about the mental stuff?"

"We'll do that later," Luke replied. Inwardly, he was stunned at the thought that she'd not had much training. She had been with Yoda for probably quite a while, it seemed. He brushed the stray thoughts away. "Master Yoda, do you have a spare lightsaber by any chance?"

"A saber, have I. Give it to her, I will. Need it, I do not. When nine hundred years old you reach, more mental practice you would use, hm?" Yoda conjured up a lightsaber, miraculously fit for a human hand.

"Is this your lightsaber?" Tontay asked, looking at it skeptically.

"My lightsaber, this is not. Gave me his former Master's saber, Kenobi did. Pass it on to you, I will..." Yoda remained quiet for a moment. "Your heritage, it is."

Tontay looked at Yoda, confused. "I'm related to Obi-Wan's Master?"

Yoda nodded in confirmation. "Your grandfather, Qui-Gon was. A good Jedi was he, but too head-strong. A son he had, Creet-Ath Jinn, he was named. Changed his name, he did, to Clawn Novablast after his father died. Thirteen years before Qui-Gon's death, he was born. Know of him, Qui-Gon did not. Hidden the son was, for Qui-Gon's relationship with Klanad Gratheen was not to be. Called him too reckless, she did. Marry Julaytu did Clawn, soon after turning Sith, and you were their child. Soon, the Jedi Purge broke out, and killed were Julaytu and Clawn. Died of a broken heart did Klanad, after Qui-Gon's death, and much regret did she feel...Took you in, I did."

Tontay looked at the lightsaber in Yoda's small hand. She took it and turned it over, looking at its sleekness and its battle scars. "How did Qui-Gon—my grandfather," she corrected, "—die?"

After a moment of looking at her and Luke (who seemed strangely amused), Yoda told them of how Qui-Gon died and how Anakin Skywalker went from slave to Republic hero. His story made them thirst for more knowledge, but he finally ended with, "Much happened. Told you enough, have I. Train now, you must."

Luke and Tontay were quiet for a moment, still digesting the story. Finally, Luke spoke up, breaking the silence, "Let's start our dueling."

"All right," Tontay responded by igniting her lightsaber.

"First, we'll start with the main stances," Luke said, coming around behind her. He told her where to put her feet, and he tried to instruct her on her hand positions, but she kept doing it wrong. Still behind her, he put his arms around on hers, and his head over her shoulder, placing her hands in the right places.

Tontay tried to concentrate on the saber positions and not the close proximity of his face and hers. His breath was warm against her face; the cool air of the swamp had been making her chilly. But despite her current warmth, she shivered.

Luke turned his head, mere inches from her face, and asked, "Cold?"

"A little."

"There are Force techniques for that," Luke replied with a mischievous grin.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, you just concentrate on moving the air molecules."

"How do you have enough concentration to move molecules?"

"The Force is in and around all moving things. Just think of them moving around, and then you just...move them," Luke explained.

Tontay seemed dubious, but she reached out through the Force and attempted to vibrate the molecules and create warm air. At first, she couldn't do it, but she was determined to triumph. She kept at it, and finally the air around them began to heat up slightly. "I did it!" she exclaimed, excited.

Luke grinned, not noticing Yoda rolling his eyes, "That's right. Now, concentrate on these saber positions I am trying, err, doing my best," Luke added, after looking at Yoda, "—to teach you."

"Yessir," Tontay said, saluting in a sloppy military manner.

"Then," Luke sighed, "—we will have to work on that salute of yours."

Tontay gave him an evil look and turned around, feinting a lunge with her ignited lightsaber. "Take that!"

Luke's saber was in his hand in an instant, and he blocked her attempt at a feint, which had gone just a little too far to be an actual feint. "You can't even fake a lunge right!"

That comment made her slash again, more aggressively. "Watch it!" Luke ordered. "I don't want to hurt you. You don't know how to properly fight yet. Now, get over here and let me teach you some more stuff, then you will train with a remote, and _then_ we can duel. Okay?"

Tontay looked disappointed. "Okay..."

Luke then proceeded to explain the finer techniques of lightsaber dueling. They finally stopped for a break and ate some ration bars Luke had brought from his X-wing. Yoda grumbled something and went inside his hut to eat some of his own food.

Luke grinned over at Tontay, "I never thought I would be this glad to eat rations!"

"Well, just be glad you haven't had to eat his food for years!" Tontay said wryly.

"I am. More so than you know." Then, in a passable imitation of Yoda, Luke wrinkled his face and said, "Be glad for what you have, you should."

"Wow, you've got that old wrinkled green man thing down!" Tontay replied with a laugh.

"Hey—" Luke started, offended.

"Heard that, did I. Like it, I did not." Yoda interrupted from behind them. They turned around, startled, and Luke noticed with an amused look that the pittin was on Yoda's shoulder.

"Where'd you come from?" Luke inquired.

Annoyed, Yoda replied, "If the Force you were using, know would you when come up did I."

Luke fell silent at that, and Tontay spoke up. "We were eating and enjoying our meal, you can't expect us to remain alert all the time!"

Yoda looked solemn, "When a servant of the Force you are, remain so you will for all eternity. Turn it on and off, you cannot. Once you start down the path of the Force, forever on that path shall you be. A never-ending road, it is."

Tontay looked hesitant. "So if you become a Jedi, then you must forever serve the Force and people?"

Yoda gave a minute nod, "Yes."

Luke saw the hesitation on Novablast's face and in her manner, "It isn't all that bad. Even Jedi get breaks every now and then. It isn't like the Force orders you to go get it some stim tea and then go run around nude!"

Yoda hmphed, and Tontay laughed. She smacked the side of Luke's head, "Maybe not, but I'm sure you would like me to do that!"

Luke's mouth bobbed open and closed like a stunned fish.

Yoda raised his eyebrows, "About this, need to know do I?"

Luke, astonished, replied, "No! She's just raving!"

Yoda gave him an "Oh please" look, and the pittin hissed and ran off back towards Yoda's hut.

* * *

Weeks went by with several similar scenes occurring. Luke Skywalker and Tontay Novablast's tentative relationship grew as Tontay continued her Jedi training... 


	3. Chapter Three

Luke was showing Tontay a meditation trance when Artoo came up to Luke, whistling.

"Yes, Artoo?" Luke asked the little droid.

Artoo bleeped a reply, and Tontay looked at Luke for the translation. "He said there's a message on my comm unit in the X-wing...I'll be right back."

* * *

Luke activated the comm for a recorded message. It was from Leia.

"Luke, we have a little diplomatic situation that we are having trouble with. The head of the Chiss, which is Thrawn's species apparently, is wanting to become a member of the Republic. However, it seems many of the Chiss are rebelling, and they insist that a Jedi Master come and mediate the matter. Please contact me as soon as possible."

* * *

Leia was in the middle of a yet another diplomatic meeting when an aide came up to her. The aide whispered something into her ear, and she stood up, "Please, excuse me, I have an important call to take." The other diplomats nodded their acknowledgement and continued with the debate.

Leia went to the communications unit and saw Luke's holo, his face betraying his slight impatience. She smiled inwardly; the farmboy hadn't been fully extinguished.

Outwardly, she asked in a rush, "Luke, can you come?"

Luke nodded, and then he bit his lip, "Could you send me a ship that can fit two people?"

Leia frowned, "Why?"

"I have a new student Yoda wished me to train on Dagobah."

Leia's eyebrows lifted. "Oh?"

Luke looked sheepish. "Her name is Tontay Novablast."

"Ah...Well, maybe Han could pick you up in the _Falcon_."

"All right. I'll have Artoo send Dagobah's coordinates to the _Falcon_."

Leia nodded. "You'll be picked up shortly."

And with that, the hologram turned off.

_I wonder if she is only a student, _Leia thought with a grin. It wouldn't make Mara too happy...Not that Mara Jade would ever admit it...

* * *

Luke went into the hut where Tontay and Yoda were eating breakfast. Deedah was taking a nap as usual. "Uh, Master Yoda, Leia needs me to help with a...diplomatic situation, so I have to leave."

"What about my training?" Tontay asked at the same time Yoda said, "Take her with you, you must."

Yoda looked at him. "Go, she must. Knew that you did, even when calling your sister."

"Don't I get a say in anything?" Tontay inquired with frustration.

Just before Luke could comment they were interrupted by a yell from outside. As they rushed out the door, Luke let out a groan.

"Put me down, you blasted thing. Put me down! Farmboy, get your little agh—" Mara was being squeezed harder by the monstrous creature, "—out here and get this piece of tar off of me. Shavit, do it now!" yelled a distressed Mara from the hands of a five meter Trorrogg, a rare swamp creature native to Dagobah.

Luke rushed over to her, Tontay, Yoda, and Deedah closely following, "Calm down, Mara."

"Calm? What do you mean calm? I'm five meters up in the air! Would _you_ be calm if you were up this high in the arms of some beast who intends to eat you alive?" Mara hissed.

A grinning Luke suggested to Tontay, "Do you want to work on those mental skills?"

Angry and horrified at the thought of one of Luke's students practicing on her, Mara exclaimed from her perch: "What the heck do you think you're doing, Skywalker? You had krethin' better _not_ have her practice her magic tricks on me! I'm not even sure I would trust _you_ up this high! And what exactly is that short green thing?"

The pittin growled at the huge creature then hid behind Tontay as it roared. "Short for my species, I am not. Stay up there, you will. Jedi Master, am I. In trouble, you are," Yoda said, pointing his gimer stick Mara's way. Humor glinted in his eyes.

Tontay spoke up, "Master Skywalker, perhaps you should get her down."

Mara exclaimed, "Would you guys hurry up and get this thing to let me go before it gets hungrier?"

Luke lowered a very impatient and annoyed Mara onto the ground, and he made the Trorrogg get a sudden inclination to flee.

Mara walked right up to Luke, pushing Tontay aside, the pittin snarling at her for touching its master. "Farmboy, you are in serious trouble!" She paused, looking at Tontay suspiciously. "Who's she?"

Tontay said pointedly, "My name is Tontay Novablast."

Mara turned around, walked up to Tontay, and reeled back a fist to punch her, but she was stopped by Luke, who grabbed her arm in frustration. The pittin lunged at Mara but was halted in mid-air as Yoda stopped it from making a fatal mistake.

"Your father murdered mine!" Mara snarled, ignoring the pittin and elbowing Luke in the stomach to get him to let go.

"What did I do? What did she do?" asked a bewildered Luke as he released her arm. Then Luke started and asked, "Hey, where did Yoda go?"

"Who cares where that slimeball is, I have a tight schedule, and we need to leave ASAP." Mara Jade informed him.

"Why aren't Han and Leia here instead?" Luke asked.

"How should I know? I got a call from Leia asking me to pick you up since I was nearby. Then she tells me you plus a friend. I must say I wasn't exactly happy about it, but I thought you might need my help. I want it known that I do do favors...for a price." She grinned. "Oh, and I need to stop by my home planet. This Chiss matter is serious, mind you, but we don't have to be there for a few days."

As Luke and Mara bickered about the terms of the "deal," Tontay went to pack her few belongings. On the way, she thought about how if one month ago someone had said that she would be falling in love with one of the most famous Jedi Masters of all time, she would have laughed in their face and told them to go jump off the top of the Imperial Palace. Now, she wondered what their destiny would be. It seemed to her that Luke had certain undefined feelings for Mara, but what exactly they consisted of was beyond her comprehension. She wondered what the extent of the admiration Luke and Mara obviously had for each other was...

_Don't be silly,_ she told herself. _Why are you worrying?_


	4. Chapter Four

After being stuck on the ship with Tontay, Luke, Artoo, and that wretched animal that Tontay just had to bring along for two days, Mara was about to pull out her hair, scream, and shoot herself out the nearest airlock.

Luke had finally, very reluctantly, agreed to stop by her home planet for a day or two.

She had discovered a year ago that her mother was still alive, and her mother wanted her to come by for a short visit. She'd already visited her a few times, but evidently that wasn't enough for her mother. So, here they were, her home planet glistening before them.

She got landing clearance, and they landed at the local docking bay. Mara insisted that the pittin stay on the ship, and she got her luggage and went down the landing ramp, Luke coming up behind her. "Interesting planet you have here," he commented.

"Yes, but it can be lethal."

"Oh?" asked Tontay, coming to Luke's side and flashing him a beautiful smile.

Mara suppressed the urge to retort something vulgar, saying instead, "Yes, there are several predators on this planet."

"You being one of them?" Luke asked, eyes glinting.

Mara snorted, "Not quite. I know it's a shock, but there are even more dangerous beasts out there than you can imagine, farmboy. Even more ferocious than those pathetic Krayt Dragons you have on Tatooine."

Tontay looked at Mara. "Shouldn't we be heading to your mother's house?"

Mara nodded, throwing a glare to Luke that clearly said: 'We will finish this later.'

They got to Telina Jade's house, where they were happily greeted by her. "Oh, hello, Mara, darling! And who are your charming guests?"

"Tontay Novablast and Luke Skywalker," came Mara's reply, bordering the edge of rudeness.

"Well, you must be starving! Come, I was just ready to have dinner," said Telina, escorting them to the dining room before they could protest. They sat down at the table, Ms. Jade talking away a storm, and ate the fancy food placed in front of them. Tontay, who had mellowed during Luke's stay on Dagobah, gossiped with Telina. Telina also attempted to engage an unwilling Mara in small talk.

Well, the amount that Mara talked was small...But at least she talked more than Luke, who seemed to have something weighing heavily on his mind. She looked at him questioningly, but he just shook his head minutely at her. She shrugged her shoulders. If he wasn't planning on telling her, then she wasn't going to make him.

Yet.

Telina sighed, "That was delicious." She clapped her hands, "Franchay?" A servant came up to her. "Show them to their rooms...I am assuming you all want private rooms?"

Luke looked up and nodded, slightly more than was necessary. Franchay motioned to a droid to get their bags, and he took them up the old-fashioned stairs to their rooms. Luke's was in between Mara's and Tontay, and Mara grumbled a little about it under her breath.

"Well, good night," Luke said to the two.

"Yeah, same to you," said Mara, and with that, she disappeared into her room.

Tontay reached up and pulled down on Luke's neck slightly, giving him a peck on the cheek. She started to pull away, but he stopped her and placed his lips on hers, lingering. She wrapped her arms around him, resting them lightly on his back. He broke away, kissed her forehead, and headed into his room, leaving her staring after him. She mumbled, "'Night."

* * *

Sunlight shone through Mara's window while the native birds chirped cheerfully outside. She rubbed her eyes sleepily, mentally cursing the animals who had no respect for a human's need for sleep. She dressed and went out in the hall, knocking on Luke's door first. She heard a faint grumble that sounded remotely like "Hold on" and waited a moment before Luke opened the door, clad only in pants, his hair tousled. Mara swallowed, trying to keep her eyes off his muscular bare torso.

Half asleep, he asked, "Wha—?"

Mara just rolled her eyes, partially in amusement, partially to avert her gaze from his chest. "Get dressed and wake your little girlfriend up. It's almost time for breakfast, and we can't be late...Unless you wish to face my mother's wrath."

Luke looked at her, slowly digesting her sentences one word at a time, then he shook his head, clearing his foggy brain. He knocked on Tontay's door loudly and was rewarded with a "I'll be ready in a minute."

He yawned and went into his room to dress quickly.

Tontay was still primping when he came out, so he stood in front of her room impatiently. He ran a hand through his still mussed up hair as he waited.

Tontay came out in a lovely eye-catching white dress. Her waist-length black hair was up in a bun that would do Leia proud. She flashed a dazzling smile at Luke and a polite one at Mara. "Are we going to go eat breakfast?"

Mara bit back a reply when Luke looked sharply at her, sensing her intentions. "Yes, we are," Mara said grudgingly.

"Well, what are we still doing standing in the hall? C'mon," Luke said going towards the dining room. He didn't like being late for a meal.

They were welcomed by Telina again and shown to their places. Humanoid and droid servants brought over several steaming dishes. They were eating when Mara looked over at Luke and noticed a distant look in his eyes. "Skywalker, what's wrong?"

He didn't respond, so Mara reached over and tapped his arm, "Hey, farmboy?"

Luke finally looked at her absent-mindedly, his eyes glazed over, "Hm?"

"What's wrong?"

He waited a moment to reply. "Leave. Now. We must." Luke stood up suddenly.

Mara stood up as well, inquiring with an annoyed tone, "What are you talking about?"

"Yeah, what's wrong Luke?" Tontay asked concernedly, getting up to her feet. She placed her arm gently on his.

"Something will happen. Really bad. Leave now, we must," he said, eyes still cloudy.

"Skywalker, it's okay. You're just imagining things, now sit down," Mara told him, forcing him to sit down. He had a wild look in his eyes, as if he were a rabid bantha who might insanely charge around or bolt at any instant if allowed the chance.

Mara and Tontay also sat down, looking at him uneasily.

Telina tilted her head, "What did I miss?"

"Nothing, he's just a little tired, that's all," Mara explained, looking sternly in Luke's direction.

They finally finished breakfast, and Tontay suggested they all go on a walk. Mara accepted, Telina declined, and Luke was still too preoccupied and worried to care. They dragged him along and went out into one of Ms. Jade's big luscious gardens. They discovered a small white gazebo that was covered in all sorts of exotic flowery vines, a little pond with remotely cute swimming creatures in it, and big orchards left and right. Tontay inhaled the fragrant scent and said, "This is a wonderful garden."

"Yeah. My mother spends thousands of credits on plants and gardeners. She enjoys the beauty of life," Mara replied. _Or perhaps the price of beauty_, she thought to herself cynically.

"Her presence shines in the Force," injected Luke.

Mara glanced over at him, surprised he had spoken, "Yes, but she does not enjoy the thought of Force-users. Ever since Vader and Palpatine took me away, she's tried to shun thoughts of anyone having similar abilities. She makes herself blind to the fact that I can use the Force. It brings up too many painful memories."

"Can we leave now?" Luke asked randomly.

"Why do you want to leave so much, Skywalker?"

"If we stay, something bad will happen. As it is, it could be too late. But we have to do our best to get out of here," Luke said pleadingly.

"Fine. We'll leave tonight after dinner."

"Now."

"After lunchtime."

"Directly before."

"No, after is my best offer—the political situation can't be that bad."

"All right," Luke finally gave in.

* * *

A few hours after their walk, they ate lunch. Luke seemed even more anxious to get moving. They packed semi-quickly, but not as rapidly as Luke would have liked. Luke decided to leave the X-wing on Mara's home planet and pick it up later. They said good-bye to Telina Jade and boarded the _Jade's Fire_.

When Mara pulled the hyperspace lever, she was expecting Luke to relax visibly. He remained tense, however, and she sighed in annoyance.

Luke glanced not-quite-angrily at the perturbed Mara, stood up, then abruptly left the cockpit, running into a scared Deedah who was frantically scurrying around, as if picking up on his mood.

Mara was still mumbling about Jedi and their unexpected mood swings when the ship's alarms went off. She was almost glad to see the Imperial Star Destroyer and the Interdictor Cruiser that had just jolted her ship out of hyperspace.

Almost.

They hailed her, and she spun some story together, realizing that it was futile since they didn't believe a word of it. In fact, she soon found herself preparing to be boarded by Stormtroopers. As she exasperatedly passed a muttering Luke, she heard him say something about Vader. She halted in midstep. "Why are you talking about Vader? He's dead."

"He's on that ship."

"No, he's not." Mara reached out with the Force, and a stunned wave passed over her. "Stang...You're right!" Mara cursed under her breath then asked, "What about Tontay? I know we can take care of ourselves, but what about her? Can she take care of herself?"

"Tontay is pretty strong, and has been well-trained. But..."

"But what?" asked a very nervous Mara.

"I worry about her; this is such a critical period."

"I guess if she's with us not much could happen. But if we get separated that could lead to trouble..."

"I have a bad feeling about this," claimed Luke.

Then he turned and ran to find Tontay.

"Yeah, the feeling's mutual," Mara mumbled at Luke's retreating figure.

* * *

Luke found Tontay in his quarters sitting on the bed. She seemed scared, and in the back corners of his mind he remotely realized he was picking up Mara's emotions a lot clearer than Tontay's. He filed that thought to the back of his brain under "Weird Things to Contemplate Later." He looked at her sadly, "The Stormtroopers are about to board."

"Yes...Luke, thanks for trying to warn us about something like this happening," Tontay glanced up at him, holding his depressed gaze. She stood up, slid her arms around his neck, and craned her neck up slightly, meeting his lips with hers in a short kiss.

But Stormtroopers were preparing to board the ship, so they needed to get ready. "Another time," Luke told her quietly, looking into her sad brown eyes.

Tontay nodded and blinked away some of her tears. She had some doubts about that statement coming true, but she wasn't quite sure why.

Luke tugged at her arm slightly, and they went to the cockpit where Mara was loading some lethal weapons onto her person. Deedah slunk into Tontay's pocket. Nobody registered the move because they had other problems to worry about.

"They'll run a weapons scan and take all of them away, you know," Luke informed Mara.

"Yeah, but they are not going to take me without a fight."

Luke shook his head. "It's useless to resist. If we bring blasters, vibroblades, detonators, and the like, they'll treat us even worse than they would if we didn't. Just bring your saber and come on."

Artoo whistled at Luke that he was coming, too. Luke looked like he was about to argue, but it was too late.

There was a whooshing of air as the Stormtroopers entered the ship.

"Fine," Mara muttered angrily. She quickly stuffed everything but her lightsaber in a secret compartment under the pilot's seat.

The Stormtroopers entered the cockpit, pointing blasters at them. Tontay and Luke quickly put their hands out to show that they were empty, the latter throwing a glare at Mara, who growled something under her breath and reluctantly copied their move.

"Slowly put your weapons on the floor," a lieutenant ordered. Luke and Tontay put their sabers down on the floor and looked at Mara who finally did the same. "Scan them," he instructed. A Stormtrooper stepped forward and carried out his order. The weapon scanner started beeping loudly when he swept Mara.

The Stormtrooper held out his hand to Mara, and she just looked at it. Luke cleared his throat, and, reluctantly, she reached down and got a vibroblade out from her boot. She handed it to the Stormtrooper, glaring at Luke.

Mara was scanned again, and again the machine beeped.

Mara scowled and handed them a pocket blaster. "There, are you happy?"

It still beeped.

She leaned down, pulled out three more vibroblades, another blaster, an iron pipe of some sort, a ragged piece of metal, a couple hand grenades, some rope, and a few other miscellaneous items that might be used as weapons.

Luke looked at her skeptically. "How'd you manage to fit all that in there?"

The man in charge seemed to be wondering the same thing.

Mara glared at them both.

"They are now clean," came the Stormtrooper's metallic-sounding voice, scooping up Mara's weapons and handing the pile to the lieutenant.

The lieutenant nodded and gestured toward three other Imperials standing by, one of which took some of the weapons from him, and two of which cuffed the trio and put a restraining bolt on Artoo. The lieutenant headed down the ramp, a circle of Stormtroopers bringing up the three prisoners.

"I have a bad feeling about this," muttered Luke under his breath for the second time that day.

A Stormtrooper jabbed Luke in the side with his blaster. "Remain silent."

Luke opened his mouth as if he were about to say something else, but he halted and stared, followed by the rest of the party.

"Welcome, son," came Vader's deep mechanical voice. "Ah, Mara Jade...The Emperor has been expecting you as well. Son, who is your female companion?" Vader inquired.

Luke barely managed to keep his face emotionless, "I thought you were dead."

"Looks can be deceiving. The Emperor foresaw what was going to happen and took appropriate measures. On board the Death Star, what you thought was the Emperor and I was actually clones. Do you know why the Fleet lost so badly at Endor? It was because most of the ships were mere shells with shields and a few weapons. Most were piloted by droids, and the few humans you saw aboard the Death Star were also clones. The Emperor and I hid away with our real fleet, gathering more ships and strengthening it. Most of the officers that have been giving you Rebels so much trouble are also clones. We decided we should strengthen ourselves and catch you pathetic Rebels off-guard, so we can extinguish you once and for all."

Luke threw a shocked look at Mara, who returned it. He let it sink in for a moment, then, "Father, what do you want from us?"

"You, Jade, and some information," Vader responded.

"Can't you let her—" Luke tossed his head at Tontay, "—go?"

Darth Vader responded, "Ah, but I will..._if_ you are willing to cooperate."

Luke swallowed. "What do you wish me to do?"

"Jade must cooperate as well."

Luke looked over at Mara, whose eyes widened. She coughed, "Excuse me, but I am not doing anything for you _or_ Palpatine!"

Vader's respirator echoed threateningly throughout the corridor.

Luke decided to speak. "What do we have to do?"

"The Emperor has been missing his highly skilled Hand, and he wants her back. We also wish to know the location of the hidden Rebel fleet...And Luke, you will either turn to the Dark Side or die."

Tontay's eyes were as big as Tatooine's twin suns, Mara looked uneasy, and Luke's mouth was gaped open.

"You think you could ask for much more?" Luke asked, astonished.

The helmeted head turned towards Luke, eyes glaring through the mask. "I do not need your sarcasm, Son."

Luke turned away. "What if I could give you one-third of that deal?"

"No!" Tontay and Mara said simultaneously.

Luke faced them, "I must...If I turn, will you let them go?" He looked old beyond his years, especially in his eyes. He'd been through much, with more yet to come.

"How could I trust you to follow through on your part of the bargain, Son? Jade can possibly be done without, but you must tell me the location of the Rebel fleet."

"No. I will not turn unless I don't have to give the coordinates and you let them both go."

"You are pushing me too far, Son," growled Vader.

Luke bit his lip. "Take it or leave it."

Vader's menacing helmet turned towards the red Royal Guards behind him. "Take my son and his companion to their cell, but leave Jade and the droid with me."

The Guards nodded and complied. Darth Vader took Mara Jade in with his sinister masked stare. "The Emperor's been wondering what could have made a loyal servant such as yourself turn."

"I found out the true meaning of the Empire, which is now pitifully weak—" Mara broke off as an invisible hand squeezed her throat tightly.

"Watch your criticism or you might find yourself no longer among the living," Vader warned her.

Mara made a strangling noise and tried to use the Force to make the cruel Sith Lord release his strong grip, but in this case there was indeed no try. She started turning a sickly color, so Vader let go, and Mara fell to her knees. "Remember, the Dark Side is much more powerful than the Light...and you should never attempt to outdo a Sith Lord."

Vader looked at the droid, "What is this unit's callsign?"

"Why do you want to know?" Mara asked laboriously, giving him a venomous glare.

He gave her a penetrating stare, the invisible hand settling again on her throat. "Artoo Detoo," she replied, hastily. The invisible hand left.

"Interesting..."

* * *

The Guards threw Luke and Tontay into the cell and exited with a mutter of contempt, leaving Luke and Tontay scrambling to keep upright.

"Thanks, we will be sure to ask you to be our escorts next time," murmured Luke. "Though hopefully there won't be a next time..."

Tontay glared at Luke. "How can you be so sarcastic in a moment like this?"

"It's better then doing what they want and just sitting around being frightened." Luke moved towards Tontay.

"I suppose so," Tontay said doubtfully. Luke came around behind her, encircling her with his arms. She leaned back against him, her dubiousness melting away.

With some barely noticeable hesitation, he turned her towards him and cupped her chin in his hand, staring into her dark brown eyes. She stared back into Luke's crystal blue eyes, which somehow seemed to have a slight bit of ice in the very depths of them...He had seen far too many harsh things for one so young...

Sensing that her evaluation of him was teetering on the edge of pity, Luke kissed Tontay's forehead and looked at her tenderly.

The door swished open to reveal a cowled figure. Luke and Tontay quickly broke away and turned towards the black robed, slightly hunched form. The hood fell back a little to reveal a shriveled face with beady eyes.

"Ah, so your relationship is as lovers?" hissed Palpatine. His malicious face actually managed a smile. "This will work out well."

Luke's anger started bubbling up, and Tontay squeezed his arm lightly to warn him to control himself, but he paid it no heed. "Palpatine, you need to realize that creatures are not in this universe just for your own personal pleasure. We have lives, needs, and feelings of our own. The Dark Side blinds you to that. You're as blind as a mynock that—" Luke stopped as a blue bolt of electricity flew from Palpatine's fingertips. He gasped and struggled to remain standing. Tontay tried to steady him, but she was hit by lightning from Palpatine's hands and the force of it knocked her halfway across the room, slamming her into the wall with a sickening sound. From there, she went to the floor.

Luke's eyes went ablaze with anger, changing from cool and calculating to fiery and fearless. His arms clenched at his sides, and he began to glow with a sort of transparent blue energy. He raised up his mechanical hand, and it also started glowing as it charged up, but, instead of blue, it was yellow. Palpatine took a few steps back; he hadn't foreseen this.

Luke held his hand up, palm outward, and a ball of kinetic energy flew from it, swerving around the Imperial Guards that had jumped in its path and hitting Palpatine in the center of his chest.

That is, it _would_ have hit him, but it stopped short of its mark.

Luke stood there, panting slightly and wondering what had happened. Then the realization hit him: there were ysalamiri that just barely held Palpatine in their anti-Force bubble. _How could I not have realized that there were ysalamiri? Well, I guess I wasn't really concentrating on that, just my anger, _Luke thought with a sigh. _That is what happens when you let your feelings overtake you... _

The Dark Side was still there, strongly beckoning Luke to once again let it engorge him with power.

Palpatine smiled sinisterly at Luke, sensing what he was thinking from his facial expression.

Luke hardened his face into a mask, mentally kicking himself. He closed his eyes, and Palpatine left the room cackling, most of his Royal Guards silently following, though some stayed to watch the two prisoners.

Luke suddenly remembered Tontay, and he bolted over to her side. She was finding it hard to breathe and was making short desperate gasps. The pittin jumped out at Luke, startling him. Deedah squeaked and went to a corner, shaking in fright.

Luke placed his hands on Tontay's forehead, shutting his eyes and using the Force to help heal the damage the electric bolts had done. Tontay finally began breathing regularly, and looked up at Luke, who was now drained of all energy. He slowly sank to the ground next to her, feeling like a traitor and a coward for giving in to the Dark Side. He opened his mouth, and said "I—"

But the blackness came upon him before he could say any more.


	5. Chapter Five

When Luke finally came to, he saw Mara and Tontay talking in low concerned voices. When they saw he was awake, they abruptly stopped talking.

Tontay smiled at him, "Are you feeling better, Luke?"

"Except for the fact that I feel like a rancor chewed me up and spit me out, I'm all right," came Luke's answer. "Where's Artoo?"

"Vader still has him. He seemed really interested in him." Mara answered, looking at him dubiously, "Are you sure you're okay? You look like something the gornt dragged in."

"Master Yoda said that Vader used to be close to Artoo; I guess he recognized him..." Luke was quiet for a moment before answering her second question. "I _feel_ like something the gornt dragged in...I went out of control. I—I used the Dark Side to try to hurt someone, and I did it without a second thought..." Luke squeezed his eyes shut. "I tried to use their method to beat them. I tried to fight fire with fire, and I was the one who got burned."

For a minute, Luke didn't say anything, but finally he whispered,"I didn't know what I was doing...He tried to hurt Tontay, and I gave into my anger..."

Mara started to say something, but before she could, the doors slid open and Vader and Palpatine walked in.

Vader looked at his son for a moment before speaking. "We have discussed the conditions of our bargain, Son. For the release of your female companion, you and Jade shall be obedient to us and you shall tell us the location of the Rebel fleet. We know that part of the Rebel fleet is hidden far away from Coruscant, but our operatives are unable to find any information about its specific position."

From behind him, a whistling Artoo came forward and went to Luke, sad that the boy he had once knew had turned into a symbol of evil.

Luke shook his head, "All you will get is me. I will turn if you let them go."

Palpatine spoke up, "No, young Skywalker, you are mistaken once again. If you do not cooperate, then she will die." He grinned maliciously and gestured towards Tontay.

Tontay stared at the wall in front of her for a few moments, gathering her composure, then she spoke. "Luke. Do not do it. Don't bend to their will. Do not turn...You will regret it more if thousands of people died due to your turning than if only I die due to your refusal. Please, do this for me."

Luke gave her a helpless look. "Tontay, I can't just—"

Tontay interrupted him. "Luke. Think of the big picture. Do you want the blood of millions on your hands, or of one? You will make the right choice. You know the right decision, deep within your heart."

Luke glanced around at the others in the room. Tontay looked certain; Mara looked uncertain; Palpatine seemed very impatient; and Vader seemed quite patient. He looked deep into Tontay's eyes, and he was about to say something, but Tontay shook her head.

Whispering, she told him, "Things will be better this way. We were never meant to be; it wasn't our destiny. When I am gone, you must continue on as you always have. Don't grieve over my death. This is for the best."

Luke's blue eyes betrayed his confusion, but he finally gave a minute nod. "I will not cooperate—" his voice broke as he struggled not to shed any tears.

Palpatine hissed back, "Then young Jedi, she will die." The powerful blue bolts flew from his fingertips, hitting Tontay and flinging her to the floor.

Mara held onto Luke's arm tightly as he struggled to place himself in front of Palpatine's continuing assault against Tontay. The pittin took a running leap and tried to latch onto Palpatine's hand with her tiny, sharp teeth, but Mara managed to stop her before she reached him.

Finally, with a last twitch of her physical body, Tontay's presence in the Force was gone.

Palpatine smiled evilly and motioned for his guards to restrain Luke. They put cuffs on him and pulled Mara, who was holding Deedah, away.

Luke threw a poisonous glare at Palpatine before he and Mara were escorted out of the room.

The guards brought the quartet to a small cell. They threw Mara and the pittin in the middle of the room, shoved Artoo in, and started taking Luke away. Mara gave Luke a warning glare. "Remember, don't give in to the Dark Side."

Luke nodded, and he was soon whisked away. Vader, standing outside the cell, followed Luke and the guards, while Palpatine lingered in the cell for a moment, staring sadly at his former Hand. "You were such a good girl, Mara. What happened?"

"I realized the truth," Mara stated flatly. "You and Vader are just two old crones who shouldn't be given control of a ship, much less an Empire!"

Palpatine gave a raspy laugh, "You used to be a quick-to-learn teenager. Now you are just a naive adult. No improvement there. Quite a disappointment, Jade." After glancing at her one more time, he left the room.

Mara spat after him, but it was too late to actually hit him. The pittin mewled, then she went over and rubbed against Mara, looking sad. Artoo whistled mournfully.


	6. Chapter Six

The torture room contained a variety of vicious-looking instruments along with a gray metal chair that was tilted sideways. In that chair sat a very distressed Luke Skywalker.

Darth Vader was also in the room. He stood by silently and ominously while a torture droid prepared a needle. It held the needle up and squeezed it so that some of the liquid squirted out.

Luke's eyes widened. "What's that for?"

"To prohibit your use of the Force."

"I thought only ysalamiri could do that."

Vader walked a little closer to Luke. "Ah, but this is from one."

Luke looked confused, "What?"

Vader looked at him for a moment. "Many of my scientists have been studying ysalamiri to see why they can block the Force. They have discovered that there is a chemical in the ysalamiri's skin that produces bacteria which float around it in a two-meter radius. The bacteria are microscopic, but billions surround a single ysalamiri. When a creature comes into this "protection field," the bacteria touch the being's skin and release a substance that disables the midi-chlorians inside the creature for as long as they remain near the ysalamiri. They form a symbiosis with the ysalamiri, and our scientists have studied this phenomenon for years. They have finally found a way to remove the bacteria from the area around the ysalamiri, and they have induced evolution upon the bacteria so that they are capable of reproducing, as the bacteria typically die within a day. The bacteria can now be injected into a Force sensitive to block the Force," Vader said in a low but almost gloating voice.

_Great,_Luke thought, _it doesn't look like my day can get much worse._ Luke was forcing himself not to think of Tontay or his other deceased students, but it was hard. "What are midi-chlorians? Is there an antidote?"

"Midi-chlorians are bacteria that live in your cells. They are what allow you to use the Force. We form a symbiosis with them...And as for an antidote, you shall receive one when you deserve one," Vader replied.

Luke swallowed as the droid came nearer with the needle. _Maybe I was wrong; maybe it _can _get worse... _

"I suppose it's too late to bargain?"

"You will agree to our terms? You and Jade's full cooperation, and the location of the secret Rebel fleet."

Luke shut his eyes tightly. "I will not give you the location of the Rebel fleet."

"So be it." Vader nodded towards the droid.

The droid floated towards Luke, and before long, the bacteria had been injected into Luke's bloodstream.

Luke's body stiffened; he suddenly felt as if all his senses had just been cut off. It was like being deaf and blind all at once.

The door _whooshed_ open, and four Stormtroopers came in. In between them walked a large, furry, slobbering creature with a touch of madness in its red eyes.

Vader nodded at them, then he looked at Luke, "Here is your interrogator, Blifang, a Blenwolv." He glanced at Blifang, "If you do it well, you will get a large Wookiee steak. You may begin."

Luke turned a sickly color, and Vader strode out of the room, followed by the Stormtroopers. Luke was now left alone with the Blenwolv and droid. _Great, _now _how much worse can it get?_ Luke wondered to himself.

Blifang's tongue was hanging out, and he laughed hideously. "Dis gonna be fun," he rasped. He flexed his paws, and his claws came unsheathed, glinting. He lightly moved one of his claws down Luke's neck before slashing Luke's arm. Luke flinched with pain, moaning and hating Vader even more than ever.

Blifang's tongue was still out, lolling. "Ready to give in?"

Luke shook his head, "I don't give up that easily." As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Blifang grabbed his other arm, and dug all of his claws into Luke's sensitive human skin. Luke cried out in pain, unable to silence himself. Blifang seemed pleased with his outburst and started clenching harder. Luke hissed air in through his teeth.

Blifang finally let go and went over to the droid who was standing silently in a corner. It held up a needle in its hand-claw, and Blifang took it. The needle was dwarfed by his large paws, and he held it semi-clumsily. He walked over to Luke, his red eyes shining with insanity.

_What have I gotten myself into? _Luke wondered as the Blenwolv walked over, holding up the needle and grinning wolfishly. He stuck it into Luke's arm, but not carefully and slowly like the droid had done. Luke gritted his teeth as it was yanked out. His head started to spin as the drug did its work. The pain in his arms began more pinpointed, as the drug made him more aware of his senses. The scent of his bleeding arm invaded his nostrils, along with the smell of Blifang, a rotten smell, as if he hadn't washed in months, if not years.

Blifang chuckled and smacked Luke's face with the back of his paw...

* * *

Mara was fuming while awaiting Luke's return. She was angry at Vader and the Emperor for being such idiots, mad at Leia for making her pick up Luke, and mad at Luke for being on Dagobah instead of being readily available on Coruscant,...and mad at herself for actually agreeing to pick up Luke. _Look what's happened: Tontay was killed...and space knows what they're doing to Luke!_ Mara thought with a sigh. She stroked the pittin on her lap and glanced over at Artoo, who had shut down to preserve power.

Mara had no sense of the time, as she had forgotten her wrist chrono, and when Luke was thrown in the cell after what seemed like hours later, she was about to say something nasty, but held her tongue when she realized how bloodied and bruised he was. His shirt was ripped to shreds, as if some wild animal had attacked him, and his pants weren't in very good condition either. He had a big bruise on the left part of his face, and his right eye was swollen shut. His lip was bleeding, and he was slumped on the ground, his breathing haggard.

After gently pushing the pittin out of her lap, Mara rushed over to Luke, noticing that she could not sense him through the Force. At first, she began to panic, thinking that it was because his life signs were low, but then she realized that the Force was not able to touch him at all. Strangely, it could touch anything but him...Mara filed that under "Ask Later."

She slowly rolled Luke onto his back, him moaning and her hissing in sympathy as she saw his wounds. The pittin came over and gave a mrow of understanding, licking Luke's face and trying to get him to wake up. Mara hesitated for but a moment before tearing what was left of Luke's shirt off him. She ripped it into smaller sections and started gently dabbing at his scratches, getting most of the crusty blood off. Then she pressed clean pieces against the wounds and applied pressure to stop the bleeding. After that, she wet one of the larger pieces in the small sink that was in their cell and cleansed his chest of the dried blood. She tried hard not to stare at his chest, inwardly wondering about how muscular it was. She'd thought he'd mostly used the Force for the hard physical work.

Then Mara wet another piece of black cloth, the last one left, the rest sitting beside her in a used pile. She wiped the blood from Luke's mouth and rubbed at his swollen eye. He started moaning things, most inaudible. All Mara could hear was: "Unnh oh sh...gone...but it's...tuh...bad...since...love...uh..."

_I wonder what he's talkin about...? Oh no!_ Mara thought with horror. Luke's chest had stopped moving up and down. She leaned her ear against Luke's chest.

His heartbeat was fading fast.

Panicked, she pushed against Luke's chest, avoiding the slowly scabbing marks. Then she closed her eyes, hoping that he wouldn't become conscious while she was doing this, and pressed her lips against his to do CPR. At first, she got no results, but his eyes finally opened for a millisecond. He started coughing, and Mara got her face out of the way.

Luke coughed up a small amount of blood, and mouthed "water." Mara nodded and quickly went to the water faucet and cupped her hands and brought him back water. She used the Force to keep the water from dripping out, and she poured a little bit in his mouth, then a little more, until he finally drank all that was in her hands.

"Thanks," Luke managed, his throat still scratchy. The pittin purred in happiness that he was awake, and she licked his face again. He lightly swatted in the animal's general direction.

Mara advised, "Shh," and placed a finger against his lips. She smiled. "Looks like that animal has found a new owner."

Luke looked like he was going to object to being Deedah's owner, but Mara silenced him, "Don't talk, just rest, you will need your strength to heal."

At that, the aches and pains all over Luke's body reminded him of his situation, so he closed his eyes tightly, nodding slightly.

He finally finished satisfying his thirst and mumbled a thanks.

Mara bit her cheek, "Uh Skywalker, I'm gonna have to...rip what's left of your pants off."

Luke's eyes shot open, "Wha—?"

Mara laughed at the expression on Luke's face. "Well, I'm not anxious about it either, but I have to tend to your leg wounds and...I need more rags," she said pointing at the pile of bloodied rags.

Luke looked uncomfortable at that, but shifting his legs just a little bit and wincing in pain, he nodded in agreement. The pittin seemed to enjoy his discomfort and curled up next to him, falling asleep. _At least someone's comfortable, _Luke thought. He glanced over at Artoo, thankful that he was okay.

Mara was glad that Luke wasn't wearing a non-tearable jumpsuit; she was having enough trouble ripping it as it was. So she gave in and used the Force to help her tear his pants. The Force still wouldn't touch Luke, though it did allow her to "modify" his pants.

Luke then closed his eyes, waiting for it to come.

"Skywalker!" Mara said, chuckling. "Nice boxers! Who gave them to you? Your girlfriend?"

Mara was referring to Luke's bright red silk boxers, and his face turned the same color. A brief pang about Tontay came up, but he shunned it away. "No." He opened his eyes and grinned sheepishly, "I wouldn't have worn them if I had known that my pants were going to be torn off of me...Han gave them to me, as a sort of prank present, and, well, they were comfortable..."

Mara laughed harder, "Okay, sure." She finally finished tearing his pants into sections, and she started yet again stopping his wounds' bloodflow. She finally got his legs all cleaned up, and she had a few more strips left. "Does it hurt anywhere else?'

Luke shook his head, and Mara finally voiced her question. "What's blocking the Force? I can reach out and sense around you, but I can't sense you."

Luke gave her a brief explanation of what Vader had told him.

"So there isn't anyway that I can use the Force to help with the pain?" Mara asked, concerned.

"Not unless you can find a way to kill the bacteria or get them out of my system," Luke said, semi-hopeful that she might have heard of it before.

"I haven't a clue," Mara answered, shattering Luke's hopes.

"I thought as much. Well, what do we do now, wait?"

"Unless you have a better idea...I would try to break us out, but..." Mara trailed off.

"But you're unable to use your Force powers for something like that, as your potential is mostly concentrated in another area, that of preventing getting caught...Which is why you should have gone to the Academy a long time ago to finish your training," Luke admonished.

"Don't give me a lecture...I realize that I should have, but...I was scared," Mara said, avoiding his eyes. She figured it was time to get this out in the open.

"Scared?" Luke exclaimed, surprised. "Why were you scared? What would us big bad Jedi do? We don't bite..."

"I was...scared of..." this admission was hard for Mara, "—you."

"Me? Why were you afraid of me?" Luke looked puzzled. Threatening to kill someone was an odd way to show that you were frightened of them.

"Because of...Can we talk about this later?" Luke looked like he was about to object, so she said, "You need to get some rest and heal." Forget getting this out in the open.

"But—"

"No but's about it."

Luke was about to argue, but instead he gave in with a sigh. "But we will talk about it later."

"Right," Mara agreed, reluctantly.

With that, Luke closed his eyes and drifted easily into sleep.

Mara brushed some hair out of his face, wishing...wishing...


	7. Chapter Seven

Mara was dozing off against the wall next to Luke, who was tossing and turning. He was mumbling something, but all she could could discern was: "...blind...Force...No stop! Please don't...stop or I'll...Mara!" Luke was sweating and appeared to be struggling with an invisible foe. The pittin squealed and jumped off, leaving a few fresh scratch marks.

Mara shook him. "Farmboy, wake up!"

Luke didn't wake up; instead, he continued pitching back and forth.

Mara shook him harder, and his eyes opened with a fiery panic in them. He began to yank himself from Mara's grip, but he soon recognized her, his eyes cleared up, and he untensed a little.

Mara tentatively and unsurely put her arms around him to help calm him down, and Luke shut his eyes.

"What's wrong? What were you dreaming about?" She asked him.

Luke shook his head, not trusting his mouth to speak...and not wanting to tell Mara the contents of his dream. The pittin came over and nudged Luke with its pink nose, as a way of inquiry. "Purrowl?" she asked. Her fluffy tail swished back and forth.

Mara gave Luke a stern glare, "Tell me, farmboy."

"No. Tell me why you you were afraid of me," Luke said, throwing his cool gaze her way, calm at last.

Fine. She would tell him a little to figure out what he was dreaming about her. "You...you're so strong and have tremendous power in the Force...It has taken over your life. I don't want some mystical energy field controlling my destiny," Mara said, unknowingly echoing some of Han's words as she told Luke a half-truth.

Luke would have none of that simple answer, "And?"

"And...I have some feelings that I need to work out."

"What kind of feelings?" Luke asked, seeming to peer into the depths of her soul.

Mara shivered and raised her emotional walls up even higher than normal. Force or not, he wasn't going to pry into her private thoughts. "Personal feelings."

"Who am I going to tell? It doesn't look like we are going to get out of here anytime soon." Luke turned his pleading sapphire eyes towards her.

Mara slitted her emerald eyes; he had a point. She paused for a few moments, and she was saved from having to answer when the door whooshed open. Luke gave her a look that said she would tell him later.

Vader studied Luke, then nodded in approval and turned towards Mara. "I see you have cleaned his wounds, much in the way you were taught a decade ago by the Empire."

Luke turned a little pink, as he wasn't wearing much more than strips of cloth and his red boxers.

"I have been taught a few useful things by the Empire...many of it that I would have learned anyway, had I the chance for a normal life," Mara said, glaring.

Vader kept his tongue silent for a moment, then he shifted his head to look at Luke. He seemed amused as he asked, "Have you decided?"

"All I can offer you is myself," Luke replied, sneaking a glance at Mara.

"And me."

"Mara, no."

"Yes, Skywalker." Mara shifted her eyes to Vader. "If we go with you willingly, will that be enough?"

"The Fleet's location—"

"You will more than likely find it anyway; it will just take time," Mara said, and if looks could kill Vader would be melted down into durasteel.

"Time the Empire doesn't have," Vader returned.

"The Empire. Hah, the Empire is in shambles. Everyone thinks it's dead. It would take a miracle to bring together even a faint resemblance to the old Empire."

Vader's helmet stayed upon Mara, and there was a long silence. "Join us, and then tell me how pathetic the Empire is," Vader said, his voice so cold it chilled Mara's blood.

Luke spoke up, "Surely two fellow..." He hesitated at his choice of words before continuing, "—Dark Siders would be worth more than the location of the Alliance's fleet."

Vader turned his head a fraction of an inch. "How do I know you shall be loyal?"

Luke bit his lip, hard, and Mara spoke up. "You can put a small device inside us that shall blow up if we decide to escape."

Luke's eyes widened.

"No, you would be able to disable it with the Force," Vader replied.

"Can you protect it with a few ysalamiri bacteria thing and inject them so they will stay only in that area?" Mara asked.

Vader mulled that, "Yes...My technicians can work on it, they're very capable...if motivated."

Chills ran up Luke's spine, and Vader stalked out of the room.

Mara looked over at Luke, and he glared at her. _Great,_ he mouthed, _now how are we going to escape?_

She started to say something, and he shook his head gesturing around the room and mouthing, _There could be hidden cameras. It's harder to read lips from afar._

Well, it was either that or die, maybe even worse, Mara mouthed back.

_Rather we die than millions of others,_ Luke came back, wincing a little at the 'we.'

Mara saw his discomfort at the thought of both of them dying...more specifically, her. _Farmboy, are you falling for me?_

The pittin looked at Luke and mewled.

Luke was still for a moment, _Why were you afraid of me?_

_What was your dream about?_

They were both stuck, so Luke finally mouthed, _How about an exchange?_

_Yeah, so long as you go first,_ Mara smiled.

_How good are you at reading lips?_ Luke asked.

_It's another one of those things that got drilled into me by the Empire._

_Ah...Still, do you think you could use the Force to generate silence?_ questioned Luke.

Mara hesitated, then she spoke aloud. "I could try...But I don't know if..." She sighed. Closing her eyes, she reached out, concentrating. Then she opened her eyes and shook her head. "I can't do it, farmboy."

"Did you try?" Luke asked.

"Yes," Mara replied.

"That is why you fail. You must not try, you must do." Luke grinned at Mara. Then he started mouthing, _Feel, don't think. Reach out and feel the air molecules, make it so that sound doesn't penetrate very far._

Mara closed her eyes again and moved the air particles, making them vibrate in such a way that sound would go no farther than her and Luke. She opened her eyes, "We'll have to hurry, I don't know how long I can do this."

"Okay. I was blind Force-wise, like I am now. I felt like I was fixing to choke and faint. A blurred figure had you with a vibroblade at your throat. I was begging him to leave you alone, or at least wait until I was able to use the Force and give me a fair fight. But he wouldn't listen to me. He lightly touched the blade to your throat, drawing blood in a long thin line. I..." Luke's eyes were wild, as he continued. "...I went crazy...I yelled your name, and I jumped on the blurred figure. I saw his eyes widen, and he let go of you and dropped the vibroblade. You rolled away from him, and he and I went into a tumble. We fought like wild beasts, and my anger...I was so furious...I just kept kicking and punching...The Dark Side...it's the price of anger, and I was..."

"Skywalker, calm down, shh." Mara put her finger to Luke's lips. "It was a dream."

"Yes, but dreams can come true, and whether it was a dream or not I shouldn't dwell so easily in the Dark Side...And then the man's features came into focus...And it was me."

Mara wasn't quite sure what to say to that, and Luke continued. "I was fighting against myself. Evil is self-destructive and causes one to decompose from the inside out...But..." Luke was hesitant. "That wasn't the worst part..."

"What was?" Mara asked, almost knowing the answer.

"...I was afraid I would lose you." Luke pulled Mara's hand down and leaned towards her.

Mara started to say something, but Luke silenced her. She tried to pull away, then she tentatively came closer. Just as their lips were about to meet, the door opened, and the pittin hissed. They pulled apart as fast as someone would pull away their hand from hot coals. Luke looked angrily at the two black-clad Force users. Mara poked him in the side, cautioning him about his anger.

"We have discussed your proposition, and we have agreed to let you two live if you have a detonator inside the both of you that will explode if you leave more than 5000 kilometers away from an assigned Imperial ship. Thus, instead of us having a control to explode if you leave, something that you could steal and escape alive, we have something that you have no hope of surviving if you escape. If anyone else tries to remove it, with the exception of a few of our most trustworthy technicians, then it will detonate. You shall have spycams inserted into your quarters. If you don't do what we tell you to do, or you remove the spycams, or you do anything else that displeases us, then it shall detonate." Vader threw a piercing glare at the both of them. "You two will share an Imperial suite."

"In the morning, your schedule will be sent to you, my servants." The Emperor looked gleefully at Luke and Mara. "I shall have some clothes sent to you immediately," he said, looking pointedly at Luke. Luke felt himself turning red again.

Mara smiled at Luke's embarrassment, but she looked like she was ready to object. Vader stared at her, inviting her to say something. Instead, she threw a glare and remained quiet. The pittin put its paw on her as if to say "It's okay."

Luke swallowed and looked Palpatine in the eye. "Understood...my master." He seemed to want to shy away from calling Palpatine by that title, and Mara winced.

"Good..." The Emperor looked at them, gloating. "Guards...Take them away."

A few Stormtroopers and even a few members of the Emperor's Royal Guards stepped forward, picked up the unwilling pittin, turned on the droid, and escorted them all out. The Emperor looked at Vader triumphantly. "Today has been a grand victory."


	8. Chapter Eight

"A suite? How much ya wanna bet it's a torture chamber?" Mara asked as they were going to their quarters.

"I dunno, maybe they will give us a suite. After all, we're sorta going to be their 'seconds-in-command'." Luke said.

"Hmm. Maybe."

"Quiet!" the guard that was holding the pittin ordered. Deedah was trying to bite his fingers off, but he was wearing gloves so it wasn't very effective. Nevertheless, he was getting very annoyed with the critter.

"Want me to hold her?" Luke offered.

"No, I can handle it," the guard said, trying to get her to release her teeth from his finger.

"Obviously," Mara muttered under her breath.

The guards in front stopped, and one punched in the code for their room. The door opened, and they pushed in a scantily clad Luke, a perturbed Mara, an angry pittin, and an overwhelmed Artoo, and then they left. Artoo whistled at the sight of the suite.

Mara and Luke's mouths gaped open as they beheld their new "quarters." There was a huge living room, complete with a dark blue sofa, a dark blue couch, a dark green love seat, and a dark green recliner. Next to the recliner was a small table with a lamp on it. In front of the love seat was a low, wide transparisteel table. There was also a holovid, which all the furniture was turned to face. Towards the back, on the right, was a small but complete kitchenette. To their left was a large viewport with a magnificent view of the stars. In the back, there was a small hallway which led to the bedroom, and beside the hallway was a picture of Tatooine's twin suns at sunset. There was, unfortunately, only one bed, and there was a small quaint bedside table to each side, complete with a small tasteful lamp on each one. Two large hand-crafted dressers completed the room, and to the side was a small 'fresher. The bed was decorated with a lovely mix of greens and blues, and over the bed was a lovely painting of a seaside landscape from Mara's planet. There was also a small viewport located to the left of the bed.

The pittin made herself instantly at home by curling up on the recliner, still saddened by the death of her mistress. Mara sighed and clunked herself down on the couch. Luke looked around for a minute, taking in his surroundings, and then he sank onto the recliner, only to jump up quickly after being bitten by an angry Deedah. He refrained from mumbling vivid obscenities and settled with giving the pittin a mean look. He sat down on the loveseat instead. They were all quiet for a while, surveying their new environment.

After a few minutes, the door whooshed open, and a Stormtrooper entered carrying an Imperial uniform for Luke to change into. In a metallic voice, he said, "Tomorrow morning we shall have more uniforms sent to each of you, and you will be expected to wear them. Tomorrow, you have the day off, except around midday when a few people will come and perform an operation on you and give one of you some sort of antidote. Later tonight, you'll be sent some dressclothes and nightclothes. There's going to be a banquet and ceremony honoring your joining the Imperial ranks and being promoted to Grand Admirals. You are required to attend and wear your complete dress uniform." The Stormtrooper's tone left no room for argument. He turned sharply on his heel and left the room, the door closing behind him.

Luke grabbed his clothes and swiftly walked into the bedroom, glancing behind him a bit red-faced.

Mara, not wanting to let him get away so easily, decided to pick on him again. "Hey, farmboy, I think you should just wear those boxers to the banquet."

Luke halted in the doorway and turned around, giving Mara an evil glare. "Just shut up, Mara."

Mara laughed. "Oh, has your ego been wounded?"

"Not as much as yours will be when I'm through with you."

Mara raised an eyebrow. "Oo, I'm scared."

"You better be," Luke growled, going into the bedroom and shutting the door. At least, he tried to, but Mara suddenly appeared behind him.

"What are you doing?" Luke asked Mara, perturbed.

"Simply trying to get a better look at the bedroom and all of its accomodations."

"And you just happened to get a sudden urge to look at it all when I'm ready to change?"

Mara replied with a twinkle in her eyes, "Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way."

"I'm sure...Well, in that case, I am gonna go change in the 'fresher, that is unless you have a sudden urge to look at it as well," Luke replied, giving a harsh look that had too much softness in it.

"What are you suggesting?" asked Mara with a look that implied that she knew very well what he was suggesting.

"Well, if I went in there, would you have to have a look at it as well?" Luke asked, a little exasperated.

"Maybe, it depends on how much I wanted to see it."

"Okay..." Luke quickly walked out of the room and tried to enter the refresher before she had a chance to follow. But Mara was too quick for him, and she was right behind him every step of the way. "I guess that's my answer..." He sighed. "Look Mara, I really need to change, don't you have the decency to let me?"

"What's wrong? I did have to take your pants off, what's wrong with me seeing you put them back on?" Mara gave Luke an innocent look.

Luke was quiet for a moment, using all his concentration to keep from going red again. Then, with an unreadable facial expression, he replied, "That was a different situation."

"No, no different. Only different in your mind." Mara gave a sly look to Luke.

"Have you been taking 'Quote-of-the-Day' lessons from Yoda?"

"He wasn't supposed to tell you," Mara exclaimed with a grin.

"All right...Well, maybe this will make you leave me alone." Luke put his arm around Mara's waist and pulled her to him, and as he reached down to kiss her—

"Mrow!" the pittin called out as she leapt onto Luke's bare back. Luke let out a hiss of pain, let go of Mara, and flung the pittin halfway across the room.

"Stupid pittin, I'm gonna smash your brains out!" Luke walked towards it with his hand raised, only to stop when Mara placed her hand on his shoulder. He looked back at her, "What?"

"Don't hurt it, at least not yet," Mara said in a low voice. "It did make me leave you alone."

Luke winced as his back started to throb. "It almost makes me wish I had left you alone."

"Well—" Mara started, but she was interrupted by the door chime. "That must be the Stormtrooper with my clothes."

"How about you answer, I change?"

"Okay, I'll be right back," Mara turned, picked up the pittin, and went to answer the door.

_I'll murder that pittin if it's the last thing I do,_ Luke thought to himself. _It always comes in at the wrong time..._

Mara opened the door, and a Stormtrooper entered holding a lovely emerald green dress on one hanger, carrying a small box in his other hand, and holding a bigger box under his arm. He placed them at her feet then left the suite.

Mara bent down and picked them up. She hung the dress up in the bedroom closet, put the boxes on the bed, then waited for Luke to come out of the refresher. He came out looking disgruntled in his stiff-necked gray dress uniform, holding something behind his back. Mara smiled sweetly as she took her dress out of the closet, picked up the smaller box, and went into the 'fresher.

Luke sat down on the bed and pulled at his collar, wishing that he could just slice it off with the lightsaber that he didn't happen to have at the moment. He put his hat down on the bed, then he changed his mind and stuffed it under the pillow. Grand Admiral Thrawn hadn't had to wear a cap!

Luke walked into the living area and sat down on the loveseat, facing the hallway.

An hour later, Mara came out wearing a stunning emerald green dress, her hair pulled up with silver clips. The dress had a tight fit that drew attention to her perfect curves. The sleeves came down to a point on her hand, and the floorlength dress had a slit up to her mid-thigh.

When Luke heard Mara coming out, he'd had his mouth opened to complain about her taking so long to get dressed, but when he took one look at her the words got stuck in his throat. Clearing his throat numerous times, he finally managed, "You look...nice."

"It certainly took you a while to say anything..." Mara said with a slight smile.

"I was shocked that you were able to look like something other than what the gornt dragged in."

Mara simply shook her head at his pathetic attempt at recovery. She held up a hand with Luke's hat in it. "Missing something?" Mara asked.

"What makes you think that's mine?" Luke inquired weakly.

"I found it under a pillow in the bedroom," Mara replied.

"Maybe someone else who stayed in here before us left it there?"

"Okay, then, genius. Where's yours?"

"What makes you think that I have a hat?" Luke gave an innocent look.

"All male Imperial uniforms have them. Including yours. By the way, you do remember that you are supposed to wear the entire uniform, don't you?"

Luke bit the inside of his cheek and said, "Yes, I know." Grudgingly, he attempted to snatch his hat from her.

Mara pulled it to the side, turned, and walked towards the loveseat. Luke's mouth opened at the sight of the back of her dress...because there wasn't much of one, as it was extremely low cut. He swallowed, then followed her to the loveseat. He sat down next to her and began to beg for the hat. "Please, Mara, let me have it."

"What will I get for it?" Mara questioned, a playful smile beginning to form.

"Mara, c'mon, we gotta go!"

"Oh, all right...But you owe me one—well, more than one."

"We'll settle scores later, but I personally don't want to get detonated into a million pieces because of somebody's bright idea." Luke looked pointedly at Mara.

"I thought that—"

"Yeah, right. I'm sure you did. Talk later, move now." He thunked the cap on his head, not caring what it looked like since this wouldn't be a ceremony he would enjoy. He held out his arm roughly for Mara to grab.

"Well, you've certainly got the Imperial Admiral thing down." Mara said with a tartness added to her voice.

Luke sighed, "Mara, I'm sorry. I'm just not happy to be a 'loyal' Imperial subject."

"Well, we'll just have to do the best we can, won't we." Mara replied, the tartness still evident.

Luke looked into her cold green eyes. "Mara, I am sorry. I know this is all my fault. I shouldn't have gone to Dagobah in the first place, so you wouldn't have had to come get me, or I should have taken a bigger ship, but we can't change the situation, and being hostile about it won't help any."

"I know that, but this is how I deal with tough situations: I get tough...even at the expense of hurting my closest friends."

"Is that one of the reasons you haven't completed your training? Because your "getting tough" also means dabbling at the edge of the line between the Light and the Dark Side?"

"Maybe," Mara replied, not wanting to answer him. "Let's go. We don't want to keep the crowd waiting, and, before you ask, I _have_ been thinking about finishing my training," Mara said quickly.

"Okay." Luke held out his arm again, this time more smoothly.

Mara accepted his arm, and they began the long walk to the banquet hall.


	9. Chapter Nine

It took all of Luke's patience not to grab his hat off his head, throw it in the garbage bin, and rip his collar off. He was a little squirmy on the walk, but he tried not to make it apparent. As a way of taking his concentration off of his uniform, he slipped his arm around Mara's waist.

"Skywalker, I'm beginning to think you might be a little nervous."

"Me? Nervous? Why should I be? I have a confining hat on, an itchy collar, I feel like half my senses were ripped away, and I'm walking with the most beautiful woman in the galaxy, who once vowed to kill me and might never have taken away that promise." Luke glanced over at Mara.

"Glad to know you think so highly of me, farmboy."

"You should be, seeing as we're going to have to live in the same suite together for who knows how long...And have you noticed that there's only one bed? I don't want to sleep on the couch!"

"Well, it's a big bed,...and as long as you stay on your side, you can sleep on it, too."

"Ah, yes, but one problem." There was a mischievous glint in Luke's eyes. "I have a tendency to snuggle."

"Do you want to know what happened to the _last_ guy who attempted to snuggle with me?" Mara said in a cautioning tone.

"Umm...I have a good imagination."

"Ahh, the guests of honor have arrived," claimed the Emperor.

"Oh, joy. All hail the holy and omniscient Rebels who have just been nominated to the esteemed rank of Imperial Grand Admirals..." Mara mumbled to Luke, who just grinned in response.

The next hour consisted of their being greatly honored (at least, to the Imperials it was considered honored), receiving their rank insignia, and being bored completely out of their minds. Finally, it was time for the banquet to truly begin. Palpatine, Vader, Luke, Mara, and the other higher ranking Imperial officers walked through the halls to a big, majestic ballroom. Palpatine sat at the head of the table, with Vader at his right side. Next to Vader sat Luke and Mara.

The first course was stewed sughos.

Luke poked at what looked like rotted bantha fodder after a wampa had gotten through with it, and he glanced uneasily at Mara. He whispered out of the corner of his mouth, "Are we supposed to eat this stuff?"

"No, we're just supposed to look at it." Mara mumbled back sarcastically.

"Good, 'cause that's what I'm gonna be doing."

Mara's face began to pale when they proudly announced the next dish. "Skywalker?"

"What?"

"Do you think we could join the few couples dancing?"

Luke barely managed to keep a grin off his face. "Why?"

"Because I can't eat this next dish."

"Why? Aren't you hungry?"

"Do you want me to puke all night?"

"Not if you're sleeping in the same bed as me, no."

"Then let's go dance."

"'Kay." They stood up, and at an inquisitive look from Vader, Luke explained, "'Scuse us, we're going to dance."

Vader nodded, watching them walk to the dance floor.

A slow song was beginning to play just as they got out to the dance floor. "Uh, Mara, is it a problem that I don't dance?"

"This is the easy dance. All you need to do is put your arms around my waist and follow my instructions."

Luke looked at her dubiously, "All right..." He placed his hands gently around her waist as Mara slid her arms around his neck.

"You need to tighten your grip a little, I'm not gonna break." Mara laughed.

Luke hesitantly wrapped his arms tighter around her back and moved closer to her.

"Good, now move to the music," Mara instructed, her breath warm on his face as she moved closer and placed her head on his shoulder.

Luke tensed for a moment, then he slowly relaxed and rested his head against hers. "A few years ago, I'm sure you couldn't imagine you'd be dancing this closely with the man you once wanted to kill."

"I would've promptly sent anyone who claimed this would happen to an insane asylum."

Luke laughed. "I wouldn't put it past you."

"I still would," Mara snickered.

"Yeah. Who do _we_ know that would take my word or an Imperial's? 'Sides, I wouldn't want Han getting wind of this. I would never hear the end of it."

"Then I'll be sure to tell him if we go back."

"Very little chance of that happening...After all, if we twitch wrong we'll swiftly be blown to smithereens."

"You know, I think we've been here long enough, let's go back to the suite."

Luke lightly shook his head, which was still resting on hers, "No, we have to stay here a while. We're supposed to make a speech at 2100, and it's only 1900 right now...You do have your speech all planned out don't you?"

"We have to make a speech?" Mara inquired nervously.

"Yup. You did know, didn't you?"

"No officers ever made speeches when I was with the Imperial Court."

"Well, it's been quite a while since you've been an Imperial; things have changed. We are becoming Grand Admirals, and since that's a pretty high position, we need to make a good impression."

"How would you know? Why don't I eat just enough of that dish to make me sick and we can go back?"

Luke took in a small luxurious breath, Mara's hair carrying to him the scent of uagd'fu, a flower native to her home planet. "You can if you want to sleep on the couch."

"I'll sleep on the floor if we can just leave now."

"Aww, you don't like dancing with big bad Jedi Skywalker? Oh wait, it's Grand Admiral now, isn't it?"

Mara ignored his second sentence. "Well, it's not you, though I'm not sure how much of a Jedi you _are_ at the moment...It's our company...And the fact that I want to be dancing in a more private area with you."

Luke turned his head slightly and saw that the Emperor and Vader's eyes were focused on them like hawk-bats. _Hmm, dancing in a more private place with Mara..._

"Yes, I'm sure we could dispense with the rest of the pleasantries, if you want to try to convince those two."

"Let's go choke down enough of that so that I'll be sick and we can go back to the room."

"Umm, well personally, I've dealt with enough pain and sickness for an eternity...So, I guess I could ask if we could return to our quarters..."

"You don't want me to be sick?" Mara asked with a hint of confusion on her face.

"I don't want either of us to be sick. I just want to go back to our suite."

"Let's go back to the table, and you can say how sore you're feeling so we can go back to the suite. Then if you want we can..." Mara cut herself off. "Let's just leave right now."

"Of course, I'm the one who has to go over there!" Luke said semi-grumpily.

"No! Let's go right now! Let's just go. No excuses."

"Why? Do you want to be shot in the back with a blaster?"

"Skywalker," Mara said pulling back a little so she could look him in the face, "—we need to just go."

Luke didn't need the Force to see how urgent the matter was.

Whatever it was...

"It won't take too long. I'll just go over there, say a few words, and we're gone."

"Then stop talking and start walking."

"All right." Luke pulled away and turned and walked towards Vader. Mara turned and hurried towards the door.

Vader turned his gaze to Luke questioningly, "Grand Admiral Jade and I are retiring for the night..." Vader continued to look at Luke expectantly. "M'lord," he said reluctantly.

"Go then, son. Your schedule will be dropped by your quarters at 0700 sharp. You are not expected to work tomorrow, but you do have to go and get your bombs 'planted' and receive your Force antidote. The next day, you had better be at your scheduled appointment on time."

Luke nodded, happy that he would soon have the Force back, and he began to walk away, but he remembered to bow, turning sharply on his heel.

The Emperor smiled evilly after Luke, his thoughts on Mara, seeing a sudden vision of the two's future.


	10. Chapter Ten

"All right, farmboy, are you happy?"

"Well, I'd be happy if I was off this blasted ship, had the Force back, and if Tontay and my students were still alive, but I guess I'll have to take what I can get."

Mara looked pained, almost like she'd been slapped, but it only lasted for a moment.

"No, Mara, I didn't mean..."

Mara recovered swiftly, "You didn't mean what?"

Luke was silent for a moment. "Do you think it's been easy on me to lose so many of my students in one blow when there was nothing I could do about it? I should have been on Yavin with them so I could protect them. It's my fault that they died...my fault that _she_ died. _I_ am the one to blame for their deaths. You don't know how hard that is for me to live with. You don't know how hard it is to carry the burden of causing thousands of people's deaths. I killed many people on the Death Star, some of which were in Imperial service for innocent reasons...If I had been on Yavin, I could have stopped most, if not all, of the attack. When I said what I did, I didn't mean that I don't have feelings for you. I just don't want anyone else to die. I try so hard to prevent it, but—"

"But you can't protect everyone. Luke, it's not all your fault that they died. Though you _should_ probably start doing the one-on-one teaching that the Jedi Masters of old practiced, because if you have a whole lot of students, then some of what they should learn gets lost in the process, so when they have to call their skills to bear, it doesn't work as effectively as it could've if they'd had more personal training...But you, not even a fully trained Jedi Master, taught them as much as you could within your abilities, doing a fine job of it. I understand that you thought the galaxy needed several more Jedi to help with its catastrophic problems, but perhaps you're trying a little too hard...You can't always protect everybody. People need to follow their own paths and make their own choices. Tontay made her decision. You are not the one to object to it." Mara gave Luke a hard look.

They continued walking down the corridors, and Luke kept quiet. They arrived at their suite, and Luke punched in the code. Mara walked in and collapsed on the couch. Luke sat down on the recliner a bit more gracefully then Mara had. The pittin mrowled and jumped into his lap, tickling his chin with her furry pink tail. "So why did you want to leave so quickly?" Luke asked. "I'm not _that_ bad of a dancer."

Mara laughed, "I'm not so sure about that farmboy."

Luke wasn't getting off track so easily, "So?"

"So what?" Mara avoided his eyes.

"Why did you want to leave so quickly?" Luke repeated.

Mara shrugged, "I felt...claustrophobic."

Luke gave her a skeptical look, "I'm not gonna fall for that!"

"I wanted to avoid someone." Mara gave him a look that said 'Drop it!'

"Who?" Luke wished he could send out a tendril of Force probe.

"One of my old Imperial...friends..." Mara could see that Luke didn't quite believe her. "Look, I'm tired right now, can we finish this conversation another time?"

Luke gave in but stated, "We _will_ talk later." Mara nodded, and Luke picked the pittin up off his lap to set it on the floor. Her tail lashed angrily at being disturbed, and Deedah viciously bit Luke's finger, jumped out of his arms, and ran swiftly into the other room. Nursing his hurt finger, Luke asked, "What is wrong with that thing?"

Mara just rolled her eyes and went into the other room. She opened the package to see what kind of nightclothes they had given her. _I don't think so,_ Mara thought. There was quite a collection of revealing garments. _Wonder if they remembered to give me a robe?_ She checked thoroughly through her stuff and struck gold. There was a silky green robe that went remarkably well with her green eyes. Reluctantly, she grabbed some lingerie and her robe then went into the refresher and changed. When she came back out, Luke was sitting on the bed, clad in a robe of his own. He was immersed in a datacard and didn't even look up when she came in.

"What are you reading farmboy?"

Luke glanced up. "Just some historical documents. You about to go to bed?"

"Yeah, I'm tired. It's been a long day."

"I can't wait till they take this anti-Force stuff out of my system," Luke sighed.

"Tired of being a normal person?" Mara gave him a cool look.

That statement stung a bit. "It's not like I asked to be able to use the Force."

"Well, you sure don't waste any time flaunting it." Mara held her hand up before he could say anything, "Sorry, I'm not exactly thinking straight. I'm going to bed." She grabbed a blanket and started into the other room before Luke could protest about her sleeping on the couch. So much for their earlier discussion.

"Good night, Mara," Luke's voice carried into the living area.

Mara didn't reply, just pounded her pillows a bit, softening them.

"Good night, Mara," Luke repeated.

Again Mara didn't say anything, just closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep.

"Good night, Mara," Luke said, much louder this time.

"Sithspit," Mara mumbled, then she called back to him, annoyed, "good _night_, Skywalker."


	11. Chapter Eleven

In the morning, Mara woke up to the sound of the door chime. She rolled over on the couch and got to her feet. "Coming," she told the person at the door groggily. She adjusted her robe and opened the door. A Stormtrooper stood there, a rack of uniforms beside him. He pushed them into the room. "You have one hour to get ready." The white armored man turned quickly and left, leaving Mara standing there blankly.

She shook her head to clear her mind, then pushed the rack into the bedroom where Luke was sleeping. Mara rolled it over to the closet and went over to wake him up, but she paused. He looked so peaceful and innocent as he slept, reminding her once again that he was only two years older than she. She sat down on the edge of the bed and brushed the hair out of his eyes. Then she finally got a grip on herself and stood up, shaking Luke. "Wake up, Lazybones."

Luke opened one eyelid, then closed it.

"Come on," Mara ordered, shaking him harder.

He groaned, "Fine, I'm getting up." Then Luke pointedly rolled over, closing his eyes.

"Luke!" Mara commanded.

"Okay!" Luke sat up in bed, glaring at Mara with twinkling blue eyes.

Mara gave him a weird look, and he laughed, "If you will excuse me, I am going to change in here."

"Okay, but make sure you wear your uniform, just in case." Mara went over to the rack and grabbed an Imperial uniform of her own, disappearing inside the refresher. When she came out, Luke was standing and looking rather ruffled. He was uncomfortable, clawing at his collar and holding his hat loosely in his other hand. She rolled her eyes and snatched his hat away from him and placed it on his head. He gave her an evil look, and she returned it. They walked into the living room and sat down on the loveseat, Luke on the left, Mara on the right. Luke put his arm on the back of it and leaned back.

"What's gonna happen to us?" Mara wondered.

"I don't know...I just hope we can get out of here someday," Luke muttered, not caring if there were security cameras or not.

"I don't care if _you_ leave or not, I just hope _I_ get out of here someday," Mara gave Luke a sideways look, a teasing smile on her face.

_Two can play at that game,_ Luke thought. A taunting grin on his face, he placed his fingers on her left shoulder, and tapped it. "Did you know that it's the same distance from here to here—" he tapped her neck, "as it is from here—" he moved his fingers on her neck again, "to here?" He moved his arm to her other shoulder, so that his arm was around her shoulders. Luke pulled her closer to him, and Mara tried to struggle persistently out of his grip, but he held on tight. She spat a venomous glare and tried to use the Force to pry his arms off, but Luke wouldn't budge. Mara turned her face to Luke, throwing a look that would melt durasteel. Luke gave her a much softer look and pulled her head, straining, towards him. His lips were on hers when the doorbell rang. "Blast!"

Mara gave Luke a triumphant look and hopped off of the loveseat and went over to the door. She opened it, and outside stood a few Stormtroopers and an Imperial officer. Luke came up behind Mara, and the khaki-uniformed officer ordered, "Follow us."

Luke and Mara complied, and they were led through the seemingly endless corridors to the room where medical officers patiently awaited their arrival. The Stormtroopers and commander left them.

The doctor and his assistants exchanged a cryptic look, then one of them went over to the camera in the room that was conveniently hidden in a wall panel. He pretended to "accidentally" cover it with his elbow, and he took out a tool from his pocket and messed with the camera. "There," he said, looking satisfied, "—now we have a few minutes before anyone gets suspicious. We have already disabled the cameras in the corridors—you must leave at once!"

Mara and Luke exchanged confused glances, "Why are you helping us?" Luke asked.

The doctor answered him, "We are tired of doing evil deeds for the Empire. You would be shocked at the conditions some people have had that've been brought in to us—all caused by the Empire. We've decided that we should finally take a stand. In the corridors, there will be no one shown walking around, but only for a little while or security will begin to get suspicious. We have to get you two to the hangar bays, at once."

"What about—" Luke started but was cut off by one of the assistants.

"I had someone grab the animal and the droid." One of the men picked up a cage in which a distressed Deedah was trapped in, and another opened a door to reveal Artoo, who whistled. The doctor went over to Luke with a needle in his hand, rolled Luke's sleeve up, and injected the antidote into him. Luke gave a sharp intake of breath as the Force flooded back into him. "Here are your lightsabers. Now, come."

Amazed and slightly suspicious of their sudden luck, Luke took the cage. He and Mara next took their sabers and, with Artoo, followed the doctor out. They walked for a while, then the medic stopped in the middle of one of the halls and pointed down it. "Continue straight for a while, then take two left turns and you'll end up in the hangar bay. I have to go back." Before they could say anything he slipped silently away, heading back to the medical room.

"Why isn't he coming with us? Isn't he aware they will probably execute them if they find out?" Luke gave Mara a sad look. The pittin mrowled in the cage, so Luke took it out. Mewling, it climbed onto his shoulder.

"Maybe he doesn't wanna save his skin. Or maybe this is a trap. It isn't like things can get much worse. We might as well go on." Mara shrugged. "This could be the break we've been waiting for..."

* * *

"How is the operation going?" Vader asked a nearby lieutenant.

The lieutenant leaned over a screen, then his facial expression became puzzled. "M'lord, it seems they are not in the room."

Vader stood, a black menacing figure. Then he turned and stalked away quickly.


	12. Chapter Twelve

They finally reached the bay, and Mara decided that they should take a shuttle. Except for one technician, the bay was strangely deserted. Luke commanded the technician to give them the passcode, injecting the power of Force-persuasion into his voice. Using the Force once more, he made the man forget that they were there.

Mara started pushing the proper buttons and stopped when she heard a cold hard voice.

"Now my child, you wouldn't be trying to escape, would you?" She slowly turned and saw the Emperor and Vader standing there tauntingly.

"Shavit," she whispered, throwing an exasperated glance at Luke, who sent a sour look back.

"Surely you did not think you could escape. Your destiny lies along the Dark path. You must open your eyes and see it." Vader started walking towards Luke.

Luke tried to calm himself and desperately remember that, even though Vader killed his students and Tontay, there was no reason he should stoop to his father's level. Mara put her arm on his, but then he exploded, unable to take it anymore.

He dropped the empty cage, the pittin jumping gracefully onto the ground, and he brought out his saber, the blade hissing to life. He struck at Vader, who ignited his blood-red saber and blocked his blow.

For a moment, their sabers stood locked, then Luke struck harshly again, driving Vader back. Block, parry, feint, their sabers were a red and green blur. Luke's hate was bubbling, and the Emperor was shouting encouraging words at him, while Mara was yelling at him to stop, but it was to no heed.

* * *

Luke was determined to destroy this evil. _Vader must be stopped before he could kill anyone else,_ was the thought coursing through his brain. Finally, he heard one of Mara's shouts.

"Luke, if you kill him, then you are no better than he is!"

The look on his face changed, but he continued dueling, and after a few more strikes, he abruptly stopped and shut off his lightsaber.

Vader was swinging a blow that was high enough to take his head off—

Mara gasped—

Palpatine chuckled with glee—

Artoo whistled—

The pittin mewled—

Luke looked on, accepting his oncoming death—

—and, inches from his son's head, Vader turned his saber off.

He loved his son.

He couldn't kill him. His son was willing to give his life for a good cause. Much as he himself would've done when he was much younger, before he had fought with Kenobi and fell into the lava pit...

But Kenobi was dead.

And he, Vader, was still alive, and he had a son who desperately needed his help. The only option now was for him to remove the threat against his son's life: Palpatine.

Luke and Mara's eyebrows were furrowed, and Vader turned and strode towards Palpatine. The Emperor looked on in sudden horror—this was not supposed to happen—and lightning bolts soon sprang from his fingertips.

Vader staggered under the attack, and Luke shouted, "No!" and jumped in front of the bolts. He fell to the ground under the harsh assault, and the Emperor quickly realized that he could not stop Vader from killing him. So instead, he kept the bolts directly focused on Skywalker deadly, determined to destroy the one thing his traitorous right hand held dear.

Mara shouted out something uncomprehensible, and Vader continued, driving the lasersword through Palpatine's chest.

With a pained scream, the Emperor's body exploded into a great blue blast, throwing Vader back. Luke, however, was hit with the full impact of it.

All that was now left of Palpatine was his robe, and the horrible memories and nightmares he had caused many.

Vader hastily got to his feet, and his desperate gaze rested on his son. He was now fully transformed back into Anakin Skywalker, the good man he had once been, and, with a start, he took a second glance at Luke, horrified...No, it couldn't be...

Mara rushed over to Luke's side and put her heart to his chest. The pittin followed her, mrewling mournfully. Artoo came over and gave a sorrowful whistle.

His heartbeat had stopped.

She draped her body over him, trying to hold back her tears, then she was unable to contain herself, and she started sobbing uncontrollably. "He can't be dead! He can't," she managed through her tears.

Vader was too stunned to cry.

After all they'd survived, his son couldn't be dead now...

A strange buzzing noise came from the deceased Emperor's robe, and it began to glow with an eerie red light. From inside of his robe, a red crystal floated upwards into the air: the Kaiburr crystal. A few months after Luke had destroyed the Death Star, he and Leia had gone on a diplomatic mission and crashed onto a strange planet where the Empire had a mining facility stationed. There they met a strange woman with an odd crystal shard, which she claimed was from a stone she called the Kaiburr crystal. She had been trying to find it because it amplified the Force, and Vader was looking for it for the same reason. Luke, Leia, and the old woman finally found it, in its temple, and they had had an unfortunate run-in with Vader.

The red crystal was still glowing with a strange kind of light, and it hovered over Luke's chest. Mara moved back along with the pittin and Artoo, unsure of what was happening. The crystal floated down, touching Luke's chest. The red glow seemed to penetrate his body, and little tendrils spread throughout until he was red and glowing like the crystal. He floated into the air, limbs dangling, then he was gently set back down. Oddly enough, he started breathing again.

Both Vader and Mara looked on in awe and joy, and then the crystal started towards Vader. He watched it with disbelief. It came and touched his mask's forehead, the glow also spreading throughout his body though not as brightly as it had with Luke's. Then the crystal gently settled to the ground, the bright glow dimming.

They continued looking on in anticipation, and they were not surprised when it abruptly exploded, though they had to shield their eyes. They were both disappointed about the destruction of this healing crystal, but Vader had another matter to worry about.

He was having a hard time breathing, so, for lack of any better ideas, he took off his helmet. He took in a deep breath, shocked. He could breathe normally!

He touched his face tentatively and then the top of his head. He had hair, and his face was like the man's that he would have been had he not fallen into the lava pit! He took off his left glove, finding that the skin was no longer white from lack of sunlight for many years but instead a healthy peach. Next, he took off his right glove, and sadly found that his right hand was still mechanical. But that was the only part of him that was still machine, an example of the way he had lived. It served as a reminder of the evil he and his son had overcome, the reason why his son's right hand wasn't similarly cured. The Force seemed to want to etch this day in their memories for all time, and Vader almost could have sworn that he heard the laughter of his old Jedi Master, Yoda, echo in his ears.

Mara walked over to where the Emperor's robe was, then she rolled it up and shoved it under a nearby ship. She walked back to Luke and...Anakin Skywalker. That red stone had worked unbelievable miracles. She wasn't sure what to say to Luke's father, so Anakin said it for her: "I'm glad it's over."

She cracked a smile. "Yeah."

They both turned to a moaning noise. Luke's eyelids fluttered, and he shot up with widened eyes. The pittin and Artoo made joyful noises, and Luke looked down at himself, then at Mara. Then he glanced at his father, looked back at himself, then sharply looked back at Vader. "I thought I was as good as dead...And, Father,...you appear to be...normal."

"The crystal saved your life once again, and it healed me...Except for our right hands. They remain as symbols of our journey." Anakin smiled.

It was a weird feeling to look at a kindly faced man in a suit that had struck terror into the hearts of millions.

Luke slowly got to his feet.

"Can we go home?" Mara asked.

Luke and Anakin laughed.

"Yes, let's," Luke grinned.

Anakin hesitated, "What will they think of me?"

"Let's get you a change of clothes and tell people you were one of the Emperor's prisoners. Don't worry, we'll only tell trustworthy people of your real identity, at least until we can get you completely cleared." Luke looked at his father. "I'm sure they'll understand."

Mara went over to Luke and hugged him. "I thought you were dead." Her eyes were still a bit red.

"I was, but I'm not now." Luke embraced her back tightly. The pittin crawled up his pant leg, and he winced a bit at her claws, then she scuttled up to his shoulder. He pulled back from the hug, and he grabbed Mara's hand and started leading her out of the hangar bay, side by side with her and his father, Artoo trailing along behind. But then on impulse he stopped, leaning down to pick up a red shard, the last piece of the Kaiburr crystal.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

The trio changed into some spare tunics that Anakin managed to scrounge up, and they got aboard a shuttle, Anakin quietly disappearing into the back of the shuttle to meditate on matters. Deedah had curled up somewhere to take a nap and Artoo was charging, leaving Mara and Luke alone in the cockpit.

Mara stood up to stretch, and Luke followed suit. Both were exhausted.

Mara started to sit down, but Luke blocked her path. She tried next to slip past him on the other side, but she was unable to dodge him there either. Mara tilted her head, a little exasperated. He started forward, and she moved backward. He finally managed to pin her against the wall, and he put his hands on both sides of her. He brought his face close to hers. "We have some unfinished business to attend to."

Their lips came together in a sweet heartfelt kiss. It seemed to last forever, but Luke finally had to reluctantly pull back for air. Mara's eyes were closed, and for once her face appeared to be at peace. Luke moved his head down her neck, nipping and trailing kisses on down. When he got uncomfortably low, Mara brought his chin up. "Luke, your father is on this ship, you know."

He shrugged, happily catching that she actually said his first name, and then he tried to continue on his journey, but she prevented him. She gave him a warning look, and he stopped. "Fine..." Luke's dancing blue eyes looked into her brilliant green ones. There seemed to be a few words on the tip of his tongue that didn't seem to want to come out. Mara gave him a beckoning look. "Mara, I..."

"Yes?" She wasn't going to make this easy for him.

"I...love you."

Luke looked like he was expecting a reply, so she smiled, deciding to cut him some slack. She gave him a light kiss on the lips. "I love you, too."

Luke looked like a ten ton weight had been taken off his chest, and, laughing, he picked her up and spun her around. Then he turned solemn, "Would you...I mean to say..." He gave a nervous grin, "Do you think you could...Will you marry me?"

Mara considered making him sweat; it certainly would be fun. But she was rather tired, and after all this, it would be a little childish. "Yes, Luke Skywalker, I _will_ marry you."


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Anakin, Luke, and Mara finally arrived on Coruscant, and, while Anakin remained on the ship, the newly engaged couple were cheerfully greeted by Leia and Han (Chewbacca was at home baby-sitting Anakin and the twins).

Leia embraced Luke and gave a warm smile to Mara. Much to Han's surprise, Mara returned it.

Han gave Luke a clap on the shoulder as well as a knowing look. He smiled smugly, "So kid, you got something to tell us?" He wasn't going to make it easy on either of them.

Leia looked at her brother questioningly, and he gave a weak smile, shooting a _look_ at Han. Luke hadn't planned to tell them, well, Leia, yet. He didn't have much of a choice now. "Mara and I are..." he glanced at Mara, and she nodded for him to continue, "—going to get married."

Han came over and hugged him, not surprised at all. "You scoundrel! I'm glad you're done aimlessly wandering around the universe searching for a girl and found what's been right in front of you the whole time!"

Leia also got another hug in, not having expected her brother's marriage to happen so soon. "I'm also happy that you found someone, Luke," she said, smiling.

Leia also embraced a startled Mara, and Han shook the Trader's hand, not wanting to hug the deadly woman in case she had some sudden urge to bore a blaster bolt into his head.

Luke turned and called up the ship's ramp, "You can come out now."

An elderly and kind-looking man came walking down the ramp, pausing as he saw Han Solo and his wife. He smiled in greeting.

"Welcome, I'm Leia Organa Solo, and this is my husband, Han Solo." Leia said, looking at the man carefully. She didn't recognize him.

The man hesitated, looking towards Luke, who, in turn, looked at Mara, who shrugged. Luke nodded at him to go ahead. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed before how similar to his Padmé Leia looked. "I'm Anakin Skywalker."

Leia gasped, and Han started to reach for his blaster. Luke gave him a warning look, and the smuggler stopped his move reluctantly. "I thought you were dead." It was almost an accusation. "And what happened to...your suit?"

Luke took control and gave a brief summary of the events that had occured from Dagobah up to where they were now. "We should probably have a private meeting with the Council about whether or not we should keep our father's identity a secret," Luke proposed to Leia.

Leia thought about it, "You're right. I'm not sure how the rest of the Republic will react, so we had best discuss it first..."

Luke was relieved that Leia wasn't angry at their father any more. She'd at last overcome her fear and hatred. "Great. There's no better time then the present...So, do you think you can arrange one within the hour?" Luke asked. He looked at Mara, who seemed impatient, and his father, who was still studying his daughter.

Leia nodded. Han grinned at Luke, "I'd say your marriage would probably only last two minutes without Jade getting some overwhelming desire to kill ya kid, but to each his own."

Mara gave him a piercing glare. "Anymore of that, and _your_ head will be the one on a platter."

Han laughed, and Leia elbowed him. Smiling, she asked, "When do you want to begin the wedding arrangements?"

"We just got back, and _already_ you're talking about the wedding preparations?" Luke laughed. "That's typical of you, Leia!"

"There's no better time than the present!" Leia threw back at her brother.

Mara looked inclined to argue with Leia, but Luke put a hand on his fiancée's arm, "We can go inside to discuss it."

* * *

After sending Chewie off with the children to the playroom, Mara, Luke, and the Solo's had a long, heated debate. Leia insisted on their having a full-blown Alderaanian ceremony, but Luke and Mara wanted a small wedding. Han was secretly on Luke and Mara's side, but he wouldn't dare argue with his wife. Leia pointed out that with smugglers and the rest of Karrde's people on one side, and diplomats and other members of the Republic on the other, the wedding wouldn't exactly be small. Both sides had to compromise, so they agreed on a medium-sized wedding, non-Alderaanian to Leia's disappointment.

Throughout the argument, Anakin Skywalker remained quiet. After the bickering stalled for a few moments, he spoke up with a smile. "As happy as I am to see my son planning his wedding to a beautiful and wonderful young woman, I think that New Republic Intelligence would be just as happy to learn some of the information I have on the Imperial remnants."

Leia's eyes lit up. Her father must have some big Imperial secrets. "I could schedule a meeting...Would tomorrow morning be good for you?"

Anakin nodded, "Yes. It doesn't look like I'm doing anything tomorrow." He gave a hearty laugh, then stood up with a groan, "I'm not as young as you kids, so I think I'm going to turn in for the night."

Leia also stood up. "We have an extra bedroom, and I'm sure Han would let you borrow something to sleep in...I've kept up the payments on your apartment, Luke, figuring you'd be back soon, but I don't think Mara was quite as lucky..."

Mara slitted her eyes in annoyance, and she, Han, and Luke rose to their feet. "We've had a tiring day as well," Luke said, yawning.

After a chorus of good-nights and a round of hugs, everyone went their mostly separate ways to catch some shut-eye.

Luke and Mara walked out, the former's arm over the latter's shoulders. They paced slowly down the hallways, Mara leaning her head against Luke and dozing off. Smiling, Luke slowly scooped Mara up into his arms. She mumbled something in her sleep and put her arms around him tightly. Luke entered his apartment and went into his room. He gently placed her on the bed, but her arms remained around him. He kicked off his shoes and removed hers. Pulling down the blankets, he got himself and Mara comfortably situated under the covers.

Luke planted a soft kiss on Mara's cheek and fell into a calm sleep.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

While Luke and Mara slept in, Leia dragged Han to a meeting that consisted of them, her father, and several high-level New Republic officials. Mon Mothma and Admiral Ackbar helped head the meeting. Borsk Fey'lya had been killed in an assassination attempt while Luke and Mara had their little adventure, and though the assassins were thrown in jail, not very many people mourned his death.

After being given the proper equipment and being closely watched by suspicious NRI operatives, Anakin sent out a signal concerning his turning and offering alternatives to the remaining Imperials if they switched sides. He included the positions they could hold in the Republic if deemed trustworthy. There were several Rebel sympathizers Anakin hadn't killed while he was still Darth Vader because they were good workers and were too frightened to do anything for the Republic with him looking over their shoulders. But he knew they would readily desert the Empire and bring many of the ships with them when they found out he had gone over to the Republic.

Afterwards, they held another meeting in which Anakin gave the NRI important data about Imperial remnants, which they greedily took. But they still went to desperate measures to figure out if what he told them was just a trap to lower their guard. They reluctantly agreed that he could roam free without a twenty-four hour guard assigned to him because Leia insisted that her and her brother would vouch for him. Between Han fingering his blaster and Leia giving her stubborn princess look, they'd had little choice.

Anakin Skywalker smiled tiredly at his daughter and son-in-law, and Leia realized the meetings had been going on for quite a few hours. "How about we head over to the apartment, and I'll fix us a late brunch?"

Han looked like he was about to object, but he was silenced by a warning look from Leia.

Anakin nodded, "I would appreciate it."

As much as Leia wanted to remain mad at her father, looking at his weary eyes and face diminished her anger. He'd been through too much already to have his only daughter mad at him along with a healthy portion of the galaxy. Luke believed in him, so Leia would too. "Good." They walked to Han and Leia's apartment, where Leia went into the kitchen.

Before she entered it, Han called out, "Should we invite Mara and the kid?" He paused and mischievously added, "Or do you think they are too _tired_?"

"Han!" Leia exclaimed, appalled. More subdued, she told him, "Yes. Let's invite them."

**The End**


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